


Vampires in Raccoon City

by sneakytulip



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Adventures, Bloodloss, Bottom Piers, Deaths, Fights, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Love, M/M, Possessiveness, Protective Chris, Protectiveness, Top Chris, Vampire Turning, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, cute times, maybe some smut ;), neck biting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:14:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 44,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23578261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sneakytulip/pseuds/sneakytulip
Summary: Chris is a vampire. While roaming through the streets of Raccoon City, he stumbles over a wounded man on the ground, begging for help. How will he react? He definitely didn't expect to fall for this man.
Relationships: Piers Nivans/Chris Redfield
Comments: 24
Kudos: 55





	1. Night of horror

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction, I hope you like it :)
> 
> The vampires and their behaviour are heavily inspired by The Vampire Diaries, so if you watched the show you'll notice some similarities.
> 
> Oh and I just wanted to note that English isn't my native language, so please excuse any mistakes. But I tried my best haha
> 
> I am a diehard Nivanfield fan, these two are too cute <3  
> Anyway, have fun with the first chapter :)

Chris wandered through the streets of Raccoon City, in hope of catching a good meal. He hadn’t drunk an appropriate amount of blood for a few days now, which left him a little exhausted, not that he would admit it.

He ran a hand through his short dark hair, sighing slightly. He missed the times when he and his buddy Leon would ramble around in lonely nights, frighten the people still on the streets, who tried with fearful eyes to escape the duo. Not that they would have a chance anyway.  
Leon would close in on them, asking why they wanted leave now, while Chris attacked them from behind, sinking his sharp teeth into their pulsing necks. They would be unable to move while Chris sucked the blood out of their veins, Leon steadying the paralyzed body until Chris was finished.  
The only remaining evidence of their act would be the lifeless corpse sprawled ruthlessly on the floor.

But that never happened nowadays. Leon turned into a good vampire, without the need to kill innocent people and rather quench his thirst with blood bags stolen from hospitals. 

Chris grimaced at the thought. Nothing compared to fresh warm blood out of a human body. Which is exactly why he was here now, searching for an adequate source to satisfy his needs.

....................

Piers just wanted to go home. His shift at the diner was finally over now; of course he couldn’t finish on time, as usual. His boss always justified it with Piers being his best man, every customer would die to get waited by him, just so they could exchange a few words. 

Piers had to chuckle slightly. It felt good to be appreciated, but he would lie if he said it wasn’t exhausting sometimes.  
He pulled out his car keys and gave a quick look at his watch. It read 23:11 pm. About damn time he got home.

Just as he was about to open the car, he felt a cold hand against his shoulder. Automatically his muscles tensed, not sure what to expect from the touch. He definitely didn’t feel pleased by it.

“What the –” He was cut short by a sudden twist, the unknown person pulled him around and gave him a hard punch directly to the left side of his face. Piers stumbled back in surprise, rubbing at his throbbing cheek. Finally he could get a look at the stranger, although he couldn’t see much of him. He wore dark clothes, his head was hooded and a scarf was placed around the lower half of his face, so he wouldn’t be recognized by his victim.

After a few seconds of recovering, Piers caught himself again, now on alert. Whoever this person was, he had no intention of treating him nicely. 

“Give me your money. I know you get paid well at the diner.” The hooded stranger took a step closer to Piers, trying to intimidate him. The additional few centimetres in height contributed to his overconfidence furthermore.

But he didn’t know that Piers could defend himself pretty good as well, the attempt pulled nothing but a slight chuckle from him. “You know... You’re not scary or anything. Leave me the fuck alone, or you’ll regret it.”

His opponent glared Piers forceful in the eyes, while taking another step towards him. His left hand curled itself around the collar of Piers’ shirt, pulling him even closer, the two now chest to chest. “Listen, you little piece of shit. I won’t repeat myself. Either you give me your fucking money or that perfect face of yours will be left broken.”

Piers’ fists curled into balls under the hard stare of the stranger, his own anger now impossible to hold back. He wouldn’t allow that prick to steal his hard earned money, not that he had much cash here anyway.

While the hooded guy was busy staring at him, Piers kicked him with his left foot in the shin, the guy howled at the attack. Now vulnerable, Piers used the opportunity to give him a hook to his face, just like the guy did to him earlier.  
The guy fell to the ground, he wasn’t prepared for such a powerful punch. In fact, he wasn’t prepared for any kind of reaction other than just receiving the money, but he wasn’t going to let this fight be over just yet.

With a terrifying laugh he stood up again, albeit a bit unsteady at first. “Oh no, you aren’t going to get rid of me that easily, sweetheart.”

Piers only scoffed at that. He braced himself for another attack, his muscles tight and tense, years of training in the gym kicking right in. Piers wasn’t anyone to start a fight, he hated to hurt others. But if he had to, he definitely could pack a punch too. 

He didn’t expect what was coming now though as his opponent was pulling out a knife from the back of his pants. Piers wasn’t able to react quickly enough, the knife cut right through the front of his shirt and under smooth skin, leaving a long mark and blood splashing out of it.  
The young waiter was in a state of shock, unable to move and just staring at the wound. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing would come out.

“Hahaha, that’s what you get for messing with me, sucker! Next time you better shut your damn mouth and do what I say! Have a good night...” The hooded guy was as quickly gone as he had come, leaving Piers leaning against his car in deep pain. Well, at least he kept his money.

....................

After crossing a few streets and roaming around the alleys, Chris finally got a lead. His senses were sharper than humans, he could smell blood from miles away. His vampire instincts were kicking in, his eyes changed from the warm brown to bloodshot, his fangs got long and sharp. He felt the blood rush through his veins, ready to hunt his prey. 

Chris could tell the source of blood wasn’t far away, so he began to run, already delighted at the meal he was having soon. 

When he reached his destination, he was a bit surprised to find a young man sitting on the ground, his back leaned against one of the four tires of a black car. He had his eyes clenched shut, definitely in pain. His right hand clasped around his lower torso, trying to keep the blood from emitting, which helped nothing of course. A small pool of crimson blood was already spread on the floor, not to mention the white shirt and the dark pants. 

Chris knelt down next to the young man. He looked so helpless the way he was desperately clinging onto dear life. Still, all he could hear were the veins pulsing in his neck, waiting to be intruded by Chris’ sharp teeth and sucked empty until only the lifeless shell was left.

The man blinked his eyes open slowly, his left hand tugged at the sleeve of Chris’ jacket. “Please...” He coughed, it seemed to be hard for him to do such simple movements. “Help me...”

Chris looked at the poor guy. He had to admit, the man had beautiful eyes, half-lidded hazel orbs shining with desperation. His light brown hair was styled upwards into a flip, it suited him well. His lips were full but dry.  
The man was handsome, there was no denying. Chris almost felt bad to do something vicious to him. Almost.

“I’m sorry...” He murmured while closing the distance between them, his teeth hovering over the neck, close to be sunken in. The wounded man was breathing shakily, he didn’t know what was happening, nor had he the strength to think. 

Chris sank his fangs into the quivering neck and tasted the blood it gave off. It was sweet, just like the owner (Chris himself was surprised to think something like this, after all he was a brutal killer).  
He almost got lost in the sensation, the lack of fresh blood had been starting to get him insane. He was ravished with delight, not wanting to stop until every last drop was sucked out. 

Chris didn’t realize the body was starting to get limp, fingers that were grasping around his jacket moments before were now falling to the side, the head followed shortly after. The loss of blood from both assaults was just too much. 

Chris was in his own world, the taste overwhelmed him. He didn’t register what was going on around him, until a hand pulled him off the poor victim, the grip tight and firm. “Chris!”

The dark haired vampire spun around, his chin covered in blood, and looked directly into deep blue eyes. He didn’t have to think long before he knew who was keeping him off his meal. “Leon? What are you doing here?”

“Geez, look at you man!” Leon let go of his shoulder, just to glare at him. “Don’t you see what you are doing to this poor thing?!”

Chris came back to reality, he looked down to the handsome guy who had his eyes closed and was pale like a wall.  
He was a bit confused, he wasn’t doing anything uncommon, was he? “I don’t know, what you mean Leon.”

Leon snapped back at him angrily. “Oh yes, you know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t... You know my lifestyle, I’m a vampire, I need blood! Just because I am not a coward like you, who drinks from blood bags, are you pretending I did something I never did before. I drink from humans. And you know, nothing and nobody in the world will change that, screw your disgusting shit.” 

Leon looked at his former best friend in disbelief. Yeah, of course he knew Chris was a vampire, and he knew Chris wouldn’t be as rational as he was. But it still shocked him to see the monster in Chris, something he himself used to be once. It terrifies him to see Chris that way, the way he takes advantage of an already wounded person who was begging to live.  
He always hoped Chris would change to the better as well, to spare him the sight of poor people lying around dead in Raccoon City. Not to mention the danger Chris put them in, nobody knew that vampires existed, they could get into big trouble if anyone found out about them. Sure, they had multiple advantages, they were faster, stronger and could only be defeated by a wooden stake through their heart, but that didn’t mean a well trained unit couldn’t take them down eventually.  
But Leon didn’t want to think about that now. He only wanted to help the guy on the ground, if he didn’t do something, he’ll soon be dead as well. 

“You know what Chris, just get outta my way, I’m helping him. Even if you have no understanding for this.”  
Leon shoved the bulky vampire aside and knelt down next to the weakened person. He didn’t have to feel the pulse, he knew it wasn’t looking good. 

Even though Chris really didn’t have any sympathy, he watched Leon’s every move with intense eyes. He didn’t know why, but he appreciated this positive side of his friend. If they still were friends, he wasn’t sure.  
“What are you doing with him now?”, he asked curiously. 

“I’ll bring him to Claire.” Leon lifted the body off the ground and stood upright next to Chris. His dark blonde hair fell naturally over half of his face, but he didn’t care to fix it right now. 

“You what?!”, Chris exclaimed. He knew about the powers his sister had, she was really good at what she did. After all, she was a strong witch, the only one Chris knew so far. Normally she used her powers to stop evil vampires from doing bad things, because witches were stronger than vampires if they knew how to. Technically she should put her brother on a leash as well, but she couldn’t bring herself to it. Chris appreciated it.

“She’ll know what to do. I can’t let him die like this, I made up my mind to save people whenever I am able to. So excuse me, I need to go.”, Leon said harshly, and after that he was gone within a blink. 

Chris was left behind, not sure what to do. His need for blood was satisfied for now, so he didn't have to worry about that at least. Maybe he’ll pay Claire a visit as well, curious what her sister could do about that young man. If he deeply thought about it, perhaps he was a bit relieved that Leon had interrupted his murderous frenzy. Would have been a shame to let such an interesting creature die all alone in the dark streets.


	2. The awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon brings Piers to Claire, hoping she would help him.  
> When Piers awakes, he finds himself in an unfamiliar situation. He confronts the others about what happened.

Claire closed her book and turned off the light on her nightstand. She yawned, before she pulled the sleep mask over her eyes, snuggling down into the sheets. She was just about to fall into a deep slumber, when she heard a loud and aggressive knocking on her front door. Claire growled slightly, annoyed at the person who was keeping her from the much needed sleep. 

She got out of her bed however, not wanting to let the heavy thumping on the door continue. The redheaded woman shuffled barefooted to the source of the noise, groaning tiredly. “Yeah, I heard you! Give me a second.”  
She fumbled with the key in the lock, finally turning it around successfully. As soon as she opened the door, Leon stumbled into her apartment, a bit out of breath it seemed.

Claire was taken by surprise, she did not expect her good friend to be the cause of the disturbance in the middle of the night. In addition to that he was carrying a person in his arms, but she couldn’t see who it was because of the darkness in her apartment. “Leon? Who is –“

“Claire!” Leon looked at her with a pleading look. “You have to help him, I don’t know where to go otherwise. Your brother fucked up – again.” He lowered the unconscious man onto her couch in the living room, Claire was now turning on the lights to get a better look at him. 

She sighed. “Leon, you can’t always expect me to fix something I’m not responsible for.” She was glad that Leon had a good heart and tried to save every soul who needed help, but they really had to find a solution to this. She knew she had incredible possibilities with her powers, but they needed to recharge whenever she used them. It left her exhausted every time she did. 

“Claire, please.” The blonde vampire fell into the armchair, probably weary from the day as well. Being a vampire wasn’t always easy, especially if you tried to be a good one. 

“Okay.” She sat on the edge of the couch and pressed a hand against Piers’ forehead. It felt really cold, which only seemed logical considering the amount of blood he lost. “What’s his name?” She turned to face Leon now.

“Dunno.”, he responded with his eyes closed. “Didn’t ask. He was already passed out when I found Chris on him.”

Claire only nodded, before she got up and went to the further area of her apartment. She came into a room with dim light. It was full of shelves with thick books, weird looking mixtures, colourful herbs and other stuff a witch needed and collected over time. 

She grabbed a bottle which contained an oddly looking liquid and a small box with a self-made cream and headed back towards the living room, where she had left both men previously.  
She opened the box and smeared the cream onto Piers’ belly and neck, to speed up the healing process of the wounds. After that she took the cork of the bottle and carefully lifted his head to get the liquid into his mouth. She knew he had to rest now, his body had to to accept the mixture she gave him. 

Just as she was about to ask Leon for help, her front door opened again. Claire was surprised another visitor would come tonight. Hadn’t she locked the door earlier? She wasn’t sure. But when she saw who walked through, she was relieved. Just her older brother Chris, probably with the intention of slowing down her work, as always. But Claire felt happy to see him. Even if he caused big trouble in town sometimes, she still loved him with all her heart. She knew deep down he wasn’t a bad guy. He just didn’t seem to care at the moment. 

Chris approached them with large footsteps, a big grin on his face. “Hey Claire. Still up?” He embraced his sister lovingly.

She appreciated the hug and looked down at the resting body on her couch. “Well, some things had to be done. Nice work by the way. You really surpassed yourself this time.” She looked back to her brother. “Oh, there’s still blood on your face.”

Chris’s grin only widened. “Yeah, it’s a shame you weren’t there. I can tell you, that was a mess...” 

Claire turned away with a disgusted face. She really couldn’t understand how her brother could say something like that without a trace of regret. Deciding not to reply anything, she faced Leon again. The blonde man had already fallen asleep in the armchair. “Well... I was going to ask Leon if he could help me with this man here. I want to transfer him to the guest room.”

Chris shrugged. “Why not let him stay here on the couch? Wouldn’t want to wake sleeping beauty.” 

Claire only rolled her eyes. “He is not gonna wake up soon. C’mon, give me a hand. You take the couch tonight, since you don’t deserve a comfortable sleep after the move you pulled today.”

“Aww, don’t be angry.” Chris teased, but he lifted the body up nonetheless. He couldn’t deny the weight felt good in his arms, the man fitted perfectly into them.  
He walked to the guest room and lowered the body onto the bed. Claire put the blanket over him and walked out in silence. Now she really deserved a bit sleep.

Chris stayed for a little while longer. He couldn’t resist looking at the man, who was lying there so peacefully. He felt warmth spreading through his body, but he tried to shrug it off. No, Chris Redfield never felt anything other than the thrilling feeling of successfully putting an end to someone’s life. So what was it that kept him there staring?

………………..

Piers came back to his senses slowly. He wanted to sit up, but couldn’t find himself to do so. All he could feel was the ache everywhere, especially his head. He groaned, wondering what happened that he felt like shit.  
He tried to get a look at the room he was in; he definitely didn’t recognize the place, that was much was clear. 

When he was about to inspect the small room further, the door creaked open. Piers wasn’t afraid of who could possibly enter, just curious. What he didn’t expect was a young woman with a red ponytail, short strands falling out of it and framing her pretty face. 

“How are you feeling?”, she asked. The woman was carrying a tray with a glass of water and a tasty looking sandwich. “I’m glad to see you’re alive. Looks like my medicine helped.” She smiled.

Piers blinked. “What?” He couldn’t follow her. Why wouldn’t he be alive?

Before she could answer him, two other people came in. One of them was pretty tall with short brown hair. To say he was well muscled was an understatement.  
The other man had dark blonde hair which covered parts of his face. It looked good on him though. 

“Look who’s finally awake.” The brown haired man grinned, his heavy arms crossed over the chest.  
Piers felt unable to cope with the unfamiliar situation, his head throbbed and he just wanted to go home. 

“You have to excuse my brother, he can be a jerk sometimes.” Claire handed him the glass of water.

“Sometimes?”, Leon scoffed. Chris shot him a glare.

“Thanks, uh...?” Piers took the glass and waited for the woman to say her name so he could thank her in person. 

“I’m Claire. It’s nice to meet you, even if it has to be under these circumstances.” 

She seemed nice. Piers could see she had a warm heart, it helped to ease the unpleasant feeling of being in this foreign place. “Yeah... why am I here?” 

Claire sighed. “Look... It’s not that easy to explain. You were –” She wasn’t able to finish the sentence, when Piers’ eyes widened in realization, just in the moment he took a closer look at the tall man. He could see it playing like a film, the assault of the hooded guy leaving him with a knife wound, him staying behind and waiting for help, and finally this man right in front of him. 

Piers quickly lifted the blanket, he wanted to see the cut to make sure he wasn’t going crazy. Relief filled him when he saw a large scar, a bit diagonal over his abs. So his mind was working alright.  
But then another question plagued him. How did it heal so fast? It looked like he had the scar for years now. “Claire, I think you have to explain something...”

Before Claire could say anything, Chris interrupted his sister. “Maybe you’re just senile?”, he smirked. He couldn’t bite back the joke. 

He was a bit surprised when the young man sprang off the bed and right in his direction. This wasn’t what he expected, but the reaction pleased him.  
“You...!” Hazel eyes sparkled with fury, his short temper only pulled a chuckle from Chris. “You were the worst that night! How dare you to approach me still! I can’t exactly remember what you did, but I know it felt horrible!” 

Was he crying? Chris saw his eyes shimmer with tears, and suddenly he felt a bit sorry for what he did. Even though it was normal for him to act this way, he slowly began to understand what it did to the people he left behind after sucking their veins empty.   
“What’s your name?”, he asked gently. He still couldn’t say why he was starting to care all of a sudden.

Piers scoffed angrily. “Like I would tell you.” 

“Aw, c’mon.” Chris smiled at him. He thought the guy looked really cute when he was angry. The way his eyebrows arched, hazel orbs glaring at him with fire and his jaw tensed like he was about to snap at him anytime. 

Claire and Leon walked out of the room silently, not wanting to disturb the two. Claire smiled secretly to herself, she had never seen her brother with a positive change of behaviour before. Whatever this young man was doing to him, she wasn’t going to be in the way. 

“Piers.”, retorted Piers to the question Chris had asked. “Piers Nivans, to be exact.”

“Piers...”, Chris repeated the name. “Sounds nice. My name’s Chris.”

“Well good for you, I didn’t ask.” Piers made his way past Chris and through the door. He saw Claire and the other guy sitting in the open kitchen, they both had a cup of coffee in their hands. “Sorry, but I have to leave now. Thank you Claire for your kind treatment, I really appreciate it.”

She smiled at him and took a nip of her coffee. Leon got up suddenly and blocked the front door, which left Piers raising an eyebrow in question. “What are you –”

“You can’t go. Not yet.”, Leon guided the confused Piers to the living room, where he placed him on the couch. This time in a sitting position. 

“But why? Why is everything, that involves you guys, so strange?”, Piers asked, the confusion written all over his face. He couldn’t help but wishing to be out of here finally, though he had to admit that Claire and the blonde man seemed to be nice persons. The same couldn’t be said about Chris, just the thought of him made his blood boil again.

“Listen, you’re not here without a reason. I had to drag you here yesterday, otherwise you would have bled to death.”, Leon explained carefully. It was the first time he enlightened one of Chris’ victims about this. He could imagine that Piers wouldn’t take it easily. “Chris, he...” Leon trailed off, not sure if he was allowed to say what happened.

Chris, having entered the living room as well, motivated him to continue. “Speak, Leon. He has every right to know.”

Piers shook his head. “No. I want to hear it from you, Chris.”

“Well...” Chris took a deep breath, before he slowly pushed himself off the wall and walked over to the armchair, where he let himself fall into. “To make it short and sweet... I’m a vampire.” 

Piers almost choked on that. “Sorry, what? A vampire? Are you kidding me now?”

Chris chuckled slightly, he expected something like that. “No, I am not kidding. I’m a vampire. Those monsters you see in movies, with sharp teeth and all that.”

Piers still looked at him in disbelief. “No way. I can’t see anything about you that I would consider as vampire features. You look totally normal in my eyes.”

“That’s because I’m not hungry right now. As soon as I smell blood, I can’t restrain myself and become a reckless killer. My victims have no chance, I’m faster and stronger than they are.” Chris told Piers about his vampire being so casually, it was frightening. 

Piers obviously tried to understand the things thrown at him. “So... did you... attack me last night as well?”

Chris nodded. “That’s right.”

“But I’m still alive. How?”

“You have to thank Leon for that, he already mentioned it. If he wouldn’t have stopped me, there would have been nothing left of you. Kinda glad he did though.” There was that smirk again. That smirk that drove Piers insane, in both ways. He felt tempted to wipe that damn smirk off his face with a punch, but at the same time he felt a bit sheepish. It kind of set his nerves on fire.

Piers tried not to think about it and turned to face Leon now. “Thank you.” And Leon knew he meant it. “Are you...?”

Leon smiled. “Yeah... I’m a vampire too. But I’m kinda different than most of us. First of all, I don’t drink blood from humans. Not anymore, at least.”

Piers blinked in surprise. “No? I mean, I don’t know shit about this, but I figured you guys need blood to... stay alive?” If that's the right term to put it.

“Yeah, we need blood. But I get it from blood bags, I’m not sucking out innocent people. But if you turn into a vampire you can’t prevent it, it must happen to complete the metamorphosis.”, Leon explained. 

You could tell it was already too much for Piers the way he was staring now. Then he shook his head, trying to sort the new information in his head. Who could blame him though, it must be hard to live a normal life and suddenly hear about such preposterous things going on in Raccoon City. 

But Claire understood and offered him to rest once more at her place. She promised him he could go home after resting, if he in return promised to keep the information about Leon and Chris to himself. He agreed, he wouldn’t want them to get into trouble anyway. Although he didn’t know these people for long now, he started to feel comfortable around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was chapter two!  
> Don't worry, Piers and Chris will get their time together. 
> 
> -sneakytulip


	3. Coming closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris and Piers spend some time together and Piers gets to know him better.  
> It seems they are finally coming closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I promised, here are the two together. :)

Piers woke up again, trying to wrap his head around the events that had happened recently. He regretted it shortly after, his head still didn't feel any better. Sometimes when he took a nap to ease a headache, he felt even more exhausted afterwards. Just like now. 

He was lost in his own world for the moment, that’s why he didn’t realize the other person in the room. “I see you’re awake now.”

Piers finally blinked his eyes open. They landed on a man sitting comfortably in the big armchair, which everyone seemed to favor, his nose stuck in a book. He didn’t bother to look up as he kept on reading. 

“Chris...? What are you doing here?” Piers regretted saying this, secretly cursing himself for asking such a dumb question. 

Chris seemed to think that too, he just chuckled. “Well, this is my sisters apartment. I should be the one asking this question.” He closed the book and put it on the coffee table. “How are you feeling?”

Piers sat up and slipped a hand through his light brown hair, the action not adding anything positive to the mess on his head. He didn’t seem to mind at the moment, which was odd considering he spent a massive amount of time everyday in the bathroom just to style it perfectly.  
Chris thought he looked good with his hair all messy and dishevelled as well. 

“Yeah, well, not that good actually. Maybe I slept too much.” Piers blushed a bit, though he couldn’t explain why. Maybe it was the fact that Chris’ brown eyes were staring at him so intensely he feared they could eat him alive. What irony. “Where are the others?”

“Claire left a good hour ago, said she wanted to do some shopping.” Chris wrinkled his nose, he obviously wasn’t a big fan of this activity. “Leon left shortly after you fell asleep. He is pretty busy himself most of the time.”

Piers nodded, wanting to stand up only to find himself swaying a bit. Chris quickly got up to steady him. “Hey, careful there.”  
His big hands wrapped around Piers’ firm biceps. He helped him reach the kitchen, where he placed the man on a chair. “I’ll give you something to drink and a few pills against your headache.”

While Chris rumbled through the cabinets, Piers watched him expectantly. “And why are you still here?”

Somewhere between the loud noise of things being shoved around, Chris’s muffled voice replied. “Well, someone has to keep an eye on you, right? I mean, you almost died on your own out there.” Piers could practically see the smirk of sarcasm on his face. 

“Yeah sure. Whatever you say.” Piers didn’t sound very amused, but he secretly felt it. Just a bit. When he didn’t think about his almost-killer being right in front of him, trying to help him with his minor ailments. 

“Ahh, found it! Finally.” Chris tossed the blister pack on the table and filled a glass with water, placing it down too. “You know, I thought that maybe you want to accompany me. I want to go out, it’s not raining for once.”

Piers considered whether this would be a good idea. He still didn’t feel safe in the other’s presence. But on second thought, if he really wanted to harm him, he would have already done that by now. Plus fresh air would definitely do him some good. “You know what? Why not. Just let me fix my hair quickly, then we can go.”

....................

Chris had been right, the weather was beautiful. It was early in June, the sun decided to show itself more often these days. Piers appreciated it, he preferred being outside more than sitting at home all day.  
He inhaled the fresh air, his headache was starting to disappear slowly. “Hey Chris?”

Chris walked beside him, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. “Yeah?”

“Uhh... Is Claire... a vampire too?”, he asked carefully. He didn’t know whether this was a taboo subject for Chris or not. Neither of the men did mention the redhead earlier. 

But Chris didn’t seem to mind. “No. She is way more powerful than we are. She was the one who blew life into you again, well more or less.” He scratched the back of his head, chuckling. “She is a witch.”

Piers’ eyes widened upon hearing that. “What, witches too? Damn.” But he was taking this way better than the first time. “Yeah, that makes sense somehow.” 

After that there was silence between them, they just went along. But it was not an uncomfortable silence.  
Piers was a bit glad he wasn’t surrounded by noisy customers who would practically cling onto him. He liked his job, but it wasn’t too bad to have a day off once in a while. 

Then he spoke again. “Were you always a vampire?” That was something, that really gnawed at him. Chris seemed so... sure about what he was doing. With no guilt, like he did it for a long time now. 

Chris shook his head, smiling slightly. “No... I wasn’t always a vampire.”

They arrived at the town park, the sun began to settle now. They decided to take a seat on a bench, with a good view over the small lake. Ducks were swimming and young children were feeding them with breadcrumbs. It was adorable. 

Chris rested his arms on his knees as he continued to speak. “I turned a few years ago. Of course it wasn’t voluntarily. I was in a bar with Leon, we drank much. After some time we wanted to go home, but there was this asshole who got in our way. There was an intense fight between me and him, I still haven’t figured out why he jumped at me at all. Maybe he just felt like it.” Chris shifted slightly, while Piers listened attentively. “Anyway, I got beaten hard. Leon had to turn me into a vampire to save my life.”

Piers nodded sympathetically. “But how did he do that? I mean, he was just a human like you, wasn’t he?”

“No, he already was a vampire.” Chris reached into his pocket and retrieved a small package with cigarettes. He lit himself one and took a drag of it. “If you die with vampire blood in your body, you’ll awake later. But as a vampire. That’s what he did.”, Chris tried to explain while blowing smoke into the air.

“So you say, he gave you his blood, and then you died?” As always, Piers was trying to understand everything. But it got easier every time a puzzle piece was handed him.

“Yeah. But it wasn’t that hard for me. Kinda liked the thought of living forever. Unless someone rams a stake through your heart, you’re pretty much invulnerable, all your wounds heal automatically.” Chris grinned a bit, he definitely didn’t mind his vampire being with those nice little extras. “You get used to killing people. It’s even fun.”

Piers grimaced at that comment. Chris really could have left that unsaid. What on earth is fun about killing innocent people? Nothing. But he decided to let it go, there was no arguing over this anyway.  
He turned from Chris to the now settled sun, the colours it gave off were incredible. A bright glow laid over the park, turning everything orange.  
“Wow. It looks so beautiful.”, he admitted. He didn’t care if Chris would laugh at him for saying something like this. At least he himself knew he had a good soul, or a soul at all. 

But Chris didn’t laugh at him. In fact, he just looked at Piers, how his face glowed orange and his honest eyes sparkled with fire again. There was that strange feeling in his stomach again, the way his body filled with warmth. He was afraid he got sick or something, was it normal to have such peculiar feelings? He never had them before; at least not since he was a vampire. He couldn't really remember anything prior.   
Maybe he had to ask Claire sometime, she would know for sure.  
“Yeah... it is beautiful indeed.”

Chris felt their knees connected for a short time, he couldn’t help but starting to like the feeling, even if it was just a tiny touch. When their knees parted again, he bumped his knee against Piers’ intentionally, without trying to be obvious.  
He cursed silently, what the fuck was wrong with him? Getting all flustered because of a simple touch. He started to wonder that maybe he wasn’t so cold at all and needed human warmth too. 

Piers on the other side began to like Chris a bit. Maybe they just got off the wrong foot. When he was like this, he was like a human. Caring, honest, sincere. He tried not to think about his other side, his evil side. Even though Piers knew Chris needed blood, he had no understanding for the way he handled it. He could do it like Leon, there would be no problem at all, nobody would’ve get harmed. But Chris insisted on doing it the bad way, and that’s what was bothering him. 

The sun was gone by now. The dark settled in, and except the two men it was almost completely empty in the park. They got up and started to head home.  
That’s when Chris smelled blood again, the damn blood he hardly could resist. He felt his eyes turning bloodshot, his teeth growing long and sharp, his hands shaking with need. He tried hard to suppress the need to go after the source, for Piers’ sake. He didn’t want him to see him this way, after all Chris thought that maybe the young man was starting to feel better in his presence. 

But it was incredibly hard. Piers didn’t seem to notice his odd behaviour, thanks to the darkness surrounding them.  
Just as Chris thought he managed to stay in control, he felt the source coming closer. It was so much easier to resist biting in someone’s neck if it wasn’t bleeding. If the delicious liquid was sealed behind skin, not tempting Chris to lick it off. 

But luck wasn’t on his side today, after all his last meal was almost a day ago. It was to be expected that this scenario would happen, though Chris hoped it could have waited until he had taken Piers home safely... 

The woman was coming closer, she practically stumbled over to them, her face looked agitated and her hair was all messy. “Please...”, she pleaded. “You have to help me!” She had small cuts and bruises everywhere. “I got robbed...”

Piers was instantly at her side, trying to steady her and help with whatever he could do. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now. Here, sit down. Carefully...” He lowered her against a tree at the side of the path. She appreciated it with a quiet “thank you”. 

Chris was having an extremely hard time now. There was his victim, right in front of him. She was within reach, he just needed to sink his teeth into her soft flesh...  
He turned away, not wanting either of them to see his current state. “Get it together!”, he hissed silently to himself. Why was this so damn hard? Right now he hated his oh-so-fantastic little extras.

Piers was about to give the woman something to drink, when he heard Chris say “I’m sorry Piers...”. He blinked and turned around confused. “Chris? Wha –” 

But before he could finish his sentence Chris pushed him away, the bottle of water falling to the ground with a dull sound. He saw Chris jump at the woman, aggressively shoving her blonde hair out of the way before letting his sharp teeth sink into her soft skin. Blood splashed at the sudden action. She screamed in horror, not knowing what was happening. 

Piers only stared, shocked at the sight. “Chris! What the hell are you doing?!” He raged with anger, his left hand gripped Chris’ right shoulder in an attempt to pull the man away from the poor lady. To no avail, once the vampire was in his bloodlust it was hard to stop him. 

Chris finally turned around, Piers jumped back at the sudden movement. He watched in fear how Chris’ eyes were glaring at him, with no trace of the warm brown irises he used to look at. They were deep red now, small but thick veins ran down from the lower side of his eyes. His lips were covered in blood, it was running down his chin only to drop to the ground. Then Chris blared his teeth at him, sharp fangs he had used moments ago were glistening with fresh drops. 

Piers stumbled back even more, his heart thumping in his chest. No, he wasn’t going to let Chris eat him another time. He recovered from the shock and ran as fast as he could. He didn’t know where to run, his brain didn’t seem to work other than telling him to get the fuck out of here and away from Chris.

Moments later Chris came back to his senses, he shook his head as he tried to recall what had happened.  
Then it hit him, he saw Piers running in the distance and it all came back. He turned to the woman, unfortunately she was already dead. He killed another innocent person, and Piers had watched everything.  
“Fuck!”, he shouted angrily. “Why am I such an Idiot?!” 

He feared Piers would never speak a word to him anymore. Who would blame him? Chris was a monster. And he fucked up his chances of Piers liking him. He knew Piers was a pure soul, he would never want to have anything to do with a reckless murderer.  
He sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, now I'm curious at how Chris is going fix that. ;)


	4. Metamorphosis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piers gets dangerously injured and Chris has to decide, what to do. He hopes, Piers would understand his decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is chapter 4!  
> I hope you had a good easter, despite all the chaos that's going on.

Piers didn’t know how far he had come. He stopped, panting heavily, his legs shaking a bit. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes, he wiped them away with the back of his hand. What had happened the last days was too much to bear.  
He really had started to like Chris, he hoped they could have seen each other more often. But he didn’t want to be confronted with Chris’ questionable nature. It went against everything he stood for, seeing people get hurt around him because of this man wasn’t something he was going to let happen. Even if it hurt a bit, he would make sure to get distance to Chris.

But then the sound of a loud bang rang into the middle of the night. Because he had been so lost in his thoughts, he jumped upon hearing it. He knew it had been a handgun, and it wasn’t far away. He wondered why so many crimes took place in Raccoon City recently.  
He decided to go after it, curious what had happened. Maybe someone had been shot and needed help. 

When he reached the crime scene, he saw a woman kneeling on the ground and shaking all over, her arms were crossed over her head in fear. Piers exhaled relieved, at least she was still alive. His eyes wandered over to the offender, the man held a pistol tightly in his hand; he wore dark clothes, his head was hooded and a dark scarf blocked the view over his face.

Piers took a step back in shock, realizing it was the guy who had attacked him last night. Still, he composed himself and shot the offender a dead serious glare. “Leave the woman alone.”, he demanded. 

His opponent only laughed at him, quickly pointing his gun at Piers now. “You again? Well, either you are deaf or just completely stupid. I’d go with the latter.”

Piers tried not to show his anxiety, after all you don’t get a gun pointed at your face every day. He took courage and confronted him with what he thought. “You’re the one who attacked the other woman as well, aren’t you? You’re disgusting.”

The shaking lady looked up when she heard Piers mention another woman. “You know about it? She is my sister, we were at the club when we –“ 

The hooded guy kicked her in the face, she fell backwards with a thud. “Shut up, bitch. No one cares about your opinion.” Then he turned his attention back to Piers. Piers’ chest heaved with anger; he disliked the way the man dealt with women.  
“And you, my little friend...”

“I’m not your friend.”

“Fuck, you got on my nerves more times than anyone should be able to. It’s time to put an end to your miserable life.” He looked serious. Was this man really serious? So far he could only be accused of personal injury and robbery. But murder? That was a whole another level.

“Hey, you don’t have to –”, Piers tried to calm the situation, but the guy had made up his mind. 

“Adiós. See you in hell...!” He pulled the trigger. 

“Nooo!”, Chris yelled. He approached the crime scene as fast as he could, but it was too late. Piers felt everything spinning around him, he couldn’t focus on anything, it all went by too fast.  
Chris was there to catch him in his arms as the limp body fell to the ground. He shook Piers carefully, trying to keep him awake. Piers faintly saw Chris hovering over him, the corners of his mouth twitched up just the slightest. 

Chris looked around desperately, realizing the offender was already gone.  
He didn’t know what to do, all he could do was stare at the young man in his arms, how he had to fight for his life the second time now. This time Chris didn’t have the want to kill him, he didn't care about the blood spreading over the toned chest. All he wanted was to save him. 

Chris was unable to cope with the situation. It was too late to bring him to Claire, by the time he arrived he would’ve already been dead.  
It didn’t matter what he decided to do, Piers wouldn’t like the result anyway. He sure as hell wasn’t going to let him die here, but if he turned him into a vampire Piers would hate him for the rest of his life. Well, at least he had a life then.

Before he could think too much about it and probably end up regretting his decision, Chris bit into the bottom of his wrist, which left two small holes. His blood began to run out of them.  
He carefully lifted Piers’ head and held his bleeding wrist over his mouth. Plump lips began latching onto his arm, his eyes knitted in concentration and confusion. Piers sucked some of the blood, Chris saw it trailing down his throat, before he detached. His head fell lifelessly to the side and the heart stopped beating.

Chris had to swallow. He really hoped it was enough to save him.  
Slowly, he got up and lifted Piers off the ground. Then he started walking towards his apartment in silence. 

....................

Piers woke with a jolt. He was sweating everywhere, his hair clung to his forehead in wet strands.  
He could remember everything. Chris had fed him his blood, the reason he was still alive. He touched his face in panicky movements, and exhaled. Relief filled him, he didn’t feel sharp teeth or purple veins. Was this all a dream?

He looked to the left side, where he saw Chris sitting in a chair, looking exhausted. It was obvious he hadn’t closed an eye while Piers was in his coma state, the dark rings under his eyes giving him evidence. Still, he managed to crack a small smile, followed by a heavy sigh. “Thank god you’re awake.”

Piers stared at him, stunned by the recent events that took place. He wasn’t mad at Chris for acting the way he did, after all he just wanted to save his life. He understood that he hadn’t had much of a choice at all.  
He swallowed hard. He remembered their conversation in the park, about the metamorphosis. “Am I... a vampire now?”, he asked quietly. He didn’t really want to hear the answer, but it plagued him. 

Chris sighed. He wasn’t comfortable in his position at all, but he wanted to support Piers nonetheless. “Yes. You are a vampire now.”

Piers swallowed even harder. Chris could see his Adam’s apple wobble heavily, which caused himself to swallow as well. 

Then a few tears rolled over Piers’s cheeks, he wasn’t able to handle the information at the moment. Chris got up of his seat and sat down beside Piers on the king-size bed. He had placed him here earlier, because he figured it would be good for the man to rest comfortably.  
Chris took him into his big arms, Piers seemed to drown in the warm embrace. He snuggled up against Chris’ broad chest, it felt so good and safe there. Chris in return wrapped his arms even tighter around the lean man.

“I never wanted this to happen...”, Piers sniffled. He couldn’t even imagine what a life as a vampire was like, not that he wanted to. It was enough for him that he was forced to drink blood... nobody could tell him, that this stuff tasted good at all. 

“I know...”, Chris whispered sympathetically. “It’s gonna be alright, I’ll be at your side to help you through this.”

Piers nodded grateful, slowly pulling himself out of the embrace. He felt a sudden hunger. Hunger for human blood. Ironic, how he made fun of that seconds ago, and now he wanted to taste it himself.  
“Chris... I want blood...” He licked his lips in anticipation. “Is that normal so shortly after waking up?”

Chris chuckled slightly. “Yeah, it's part of the metamorphosis. It’s indispensable.” He looked at Piers, who was having a hard time pulling himself together. He grinned, he knew that feeling pretty good himself. “You need to drink human blood within 24 hours. Otherwise... you will die.”

Piers swallowed for the hundredth time that day. Even though he couldn’t wait to finally taste the blood, he didn’t want to harm anyone.  
Chris seemed to pick up on his thoughts, so he added: “Don’t worry, you don’t necessarily have to kill someone. You just need a few drops.”

Piers was relieved to hear that. He just wanted to get this over with, his vampire instincts were pushing this desire further. “Then let’s get to work, I don’t wanna waste time.”

“Uh, but you should shower first...”, Chris remarked, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

“Why?”

“Uh, well... you look like shit actually.” Chris said that before he could catch his tongue, quickly adding: “I mean, not literally, you’re just all sweaty and...” Well, that went just great.

But Piers only laughed. “Yeah, I get it. I’ll be back soon.” He stood up, before realizing he didn’t even know where to go. “Um, where’s the bathroom?”, he asked.

Chris got up as well, a little bit too hasty maybe, and guided him through the door of his bedroom to the hall. His apartment was well furnished, the kitchen separated the open living room with a long counter, and a few doors led to some other rooms, probably a guest room and home office or something like that.  
It was nice and comfortable. 

“This way.” Chris led him to a wooden door and opened it. “Towels are inside. Uhm, the handle is broken by the way, but don’t worry, I won’t interrupt you.” Chris blushed now visibly. He never bothered to fix it, since he mostly was alone in his apartment. 

Piers smiled warmly. Since he turned into a vampire he was really glad to have Chris around him, his presence didn’t bother him in the slightest anymore. Probably because he knew that soon he would become a killer too... The thought of it thrilled him just a little bit. But he wouldn’t admit that, not even to himself.  
“Thank you Chris. I’ll see you in a minute.” 

He closed the door (or as much as it was possible) and turned on the faucet. He waited for the water to get warm, while he stepped out of his clothes.  
Chris had been right, this really was necessary. His clothes were dirty, blood soaked and worn out, his face was sweaty and had dirty spots here and there. Not to mention his hair, it looked like he hadn’t showered for days.  
He sighed. This definitely wasn’t how he liked to present himself. 

He stepped into the shower, pleased about the feeling of hot water running down his body, tracing every curve of his hard muscles and washing all the dirt away. He closed his eyes, nothing felt better than a hot shower after a rough night.  
His hand glided down, stroking himself slowly. He sighed, he had to worry about that another time. His other need was much greater at the moment.

Piers grabbed the bottle of shampoo and spread the content into his other hand, washing his hair with it. He did the same with his body, until everything was clean.  
After that he stepped out and grabbed one of the towels. He liked the fluffiness, it treated his soft face just right. 

He wrapped the towel around his hip and walked out of the bathroom. 

Chris had changed clothes as well, he was now wearing a navy blue sweater. When he saw Piers in the hallway, he couldn’t help but stare. Damn, he looked even better without clothes, if that hadn’t been obvious before. Only a towel covered his goodies.  
“You ready?”, he asked grinning. 

Piers grinned back. “If you could lend me some clothes? Mine are unwearable.”

Chris rummaged through his closet and tossed him some pieces. “Here, they’re yours.”

Piers caught the small pile and winked. “Thanks, you’re an angel.” 

Chris scoffed ironically. He an angel? Not in a thousand years.

....................

It was early in the morning by now, the streets were still empty with the exception of a few workers who had to get up early for their shift. A perfect time for a crime. 

Piers deeply inhaled the fresh air, not able to push away his desire for blood. He couldn’t wait any longer, the vampire in him wanted to taste it.  
Chris noticed that, he was excited as well. He wondered how Piers would react. If he pulled away quickly, only drinking as much as necessary, or if he would get lost in the sensation like he did the first time. 

He as the professional vampire had a quick look around to examine the situation. There in the distance was a man all alone (he looked like a businessman to him), probably walking to his post. He smirked. Perfect victim, they were the funniest to drink of. The way they always trembled like crazy made himself fill with joy every time. 

“Come on Piers, I found one.” Chris grabbed his hand and led them closer to the man, not wanting him to detect them.  
They watched the worker for a short while, Piers felt his face grow hot and excited, his eyes turned bloodshot, just like they had been on Chris. His teeth grew long and sharp, they were ready to infiltrate his victim.

Chris gave a few last instructions. “Okay Piers, just one last thing. You may not be able to restrain yourself once you started drinking. I will always be close by to interfere if necessary. You heard me?”

Piers nodded absently, he finally wanted to claim his prey. 

Chris exhaled audibly. Maybe he was even more nervous than Piers, he never took the guarding role before. “Alright Piers, let’s go. Aim for the neck, the rest will happen automatically.”

Piers was unstoppable. He sprang out of his cover, which caused the man to turn around in surprise. He couldn’t even blink before Piers was on him in a second, growling aggressively. He didn’t take things slow, his teeth sunk into the neck immediately. The man groaned in pain, clearly confused and in shock, not understanding a single bit of what was happening. Piers loved the feeling of the thick liquid wandering across his teeth into his own body.

Chris watched the whole scenario, the way Piers continuously sucked blood out of the man, not showing the intention to stop anytime soon. So he really got lost in the sensation, he thought. Even though he himself liked to drink from a body until it fell to the ground without any life left, he didn’t want Piers to become this monster. Not without his own consciousness about it at least.  
Time to put an end to this, he had enough. 

Chris gripped his arms and tried to drag him away, but this proved itself harder than he had thought. Piers managed to free his left arm and snaked his hand around his victims neck again, to keep up his position.  
But Chris didn’t let him get away with this, he gripped around the back of his neck this time and yanked him off the body. Piers growled furiously, trying his best to get free, but Chris’ grip was firm and didn’t allow him to slip through. 

“Hey hey, careful there. Shhh, calm down...”, Chris soothed him. “There you go... relax.”

As Piers seemed to settle down, Chris loosened his grip and turned him around to take a look at him. He looked alright. His heavy breathing was slowing down now, his eyes slowly turned back to hazel, the fangs retracted as well.  
Chris pulled him into his arms, one hand holding his head closely to his chest, the other running smooth circles across his back. Piers hummed at the sensation, this felt so much better than his assault moments ago, if that was even possible. 

“You did good.”, Chris praised. He looked the smaller man in the eyes; he could see a hint of pride in them, which caused him to smile. He wiped the blood off his chin and stroked through his hair. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently writing chapter 5, I hope it won't take too long. :)


	5. Excursion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris and Piers spend a day together and do things normal people would do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to thank you guys for giving kudos, writing comments and reading the fic in general! I would have never thought that so many would dare to take a look, hehe ;)
> 
> It really helps me! <3

Chris tossed the keys on the kitchen counter and hung his jacket over a chair. He looked over to Piers, who had fallen onto the couch, exhausted.  
“No wonder, that you’re quite dead right now. What a show you pulled.”, Chris grinned. He walked over to the couch and leaned his arms on the backrest, watching Piers beneath him.

The young man groaned in response, holding his head with both of his hands. “Chris... stop, please.” He blushed a bit in embarrassment. “You know that’s not what I had wanted.”

“It was hot.”, Chris stated matter-of-factly. It didn’t escape him that Piers’ blush intensified, the man trying to hide it with the rim of his hoodie. Chris smirked, he loved teasing him and being the reason the other fumbled around in nervousness.  
He decided to drop it for now to spare him the embarrassment. “You want coffee?”, he asked instead. Piers nodded quickly, grateful for the change of subject.

While Chris brewed the coffee, Piers closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of the sweater Chris had given him earlier. It was a few sizes too big and Piers could literally crawl into it. It smelled manly, just like his natural scent, and a bit of cigarettes; probably because Chris was a smoker. 

Chris watched him and smiled. It was incredible how fast Piers had won his heart, he would have never thought someone could actually turn him into a caring man. Of course he wouldn’t change his behaviour as a vampire, he was who he was. But even simple gestures such as cuddling with his sweater warmed his heart, and that would have never happened before. It felt odd somehow, considering he had only cared about himself, and now all he could do was think about the man on his couch. 

Not to mention that he felt himself even more drawn to the young man since he had turned into a vampire. Firstly because it made Piers even hotter; his sweet, caring nature mixed with the inevitable desire to hurt people drove Chris crazy, he loved both sides about him, cute and wild.  
Secondly because Chris felt more understood now, Piers didn’t judge him with uncertain eyes anymore, like he had used to. 

Chris shook his head and came back to reality. “How do you like your coffee, Piers?”

“With lots of milk, please.”, he replied.

Chris did as he was told and poured some sugar into his own coffee, taking both cups and making his way over to Piers. He handed him the mug and took a seat beside him.

“Don’t you have anyone at home, waiting for you?”, Chris asked and turned the TV on. He switched through the channels, not pleased with what it had to offer. He wanted to give Piers his full attention anyway.

“No, I live alone.” Piers took a sip of his drink and hummed in satisfaction. Chris could make damn fine coffee.

Chris was a bit surprised. He would have thought that someone like Piers would have already settled down with someone. “Why?”

Piers shrugged. “Haven’t found the right one yet.” He let out a deep sigh and added: “I guess now it’s too late anyway. Who would want to have a relationship with a murderer...”

Chris looked at him. He looked so sad again; unlike Chris, he really hated to be the creature he was forced to be. It surely would take some time, before he would be comfortable with what he was now. 

He laid his hand on Piers’ leg to comfort him. Piers looked up and they both watched each other intensely.  
Chris smiled. “Just because you’re a vampire now, does that not change, who you are. It will not affect what you feel or what you believe in. Remember that.”

Piers sighed and leaned his head against Chris’s shoulder. He needed his closeness now; it felt good to have someone around who listened to him and understood what he felt. “I feel like I would rather be dead than to live like this. I don’t even want to think about my attack, not to mention the pleasure I felt.”

Chris squeezed his leg slightly and rubbed his hand back and forth. “You can learn how to control it. I may not be best guy to ask for help in this case, but you could always go to Leon. I’m sure he would give you some advice and tell you everything he knows.”

Piers nodded grateful. “Thanks Chris. I appreciate your honesty.”

“Don’t mention it.” Chris turned the TV off and stood up, looking down to Piers expectantly. “Wanna go out and catch a snack?”

Piers got up as well and grimaced. “Ugh, I think I have enough of that for now. Sorry.”

The brown haired man laughed at that. “No Piers, I didn’t mean blood. I’m really hungry, let’s get something to eat.”

Piers grinned now, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “Sounds good.”

...................

They left the apartment and started heading downtown.

It was going to be another good day. The sun was already high, its rays spreading warmth among the people on the streets. 

Piers was sweating in the thick hoodie now, he wiped some beads of sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. He regretted not having decided to wear something lighter, but who would’ve thought it would be this warm already in noontime.

Chris didn’t seem to have this problem; he wore a white T-shirt that was practically glued to his chest due to his heavy muscled shape.  
Piers tried not to stare because of how hot it looked. He felt more heat developing in his body, causing him to push the thought away quickly.

He cleared his throat, swallowing the tightness in his voice as he spoke. “Uhm, where are we going Chris?” 

Chris looked at him and laughed at Piers’ behaviour. He felt sorry for the suffering the young man had to go through. “I feel like burritos right now. I know a good shop, it’s not far.”

“Thank god.”, Piers murmured. 

When they reached their destination, they instantly saw the long queue, causing Piers to sigh. He definitely didn’t have the luck on his side right now. 

To make it even worse, somebody bumped into them and stepped on Piers’ right foot.  
“Hey, watch your step...!”, he exclaimed, growling slightly. He didn’t want to be in a grumpy mood, but he couldn’t help it at the moment. 

The guy looked at him and grinned provokingly. He was around Piers’ age, had short red-brown hair, ice blue eyes and a long scar over his left cheek.  
He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Careful how you talk to me.”

Now Chris turned around as well, having overheard their little encounter. He wasn’t surprised to see who had caused Piers to grumble. “Jake. Fancy, seeing you here.”

“Redfield? You too?” Jake didn’t seem interested in Chris at all, he only shot him a short glance before concentrating on the younger again.

Piers’ eyes switched confused between the two. “You know each other?”

“Well, not exactly... but I know his father. Wesker, that son of a bitch.” Chris crossed his arms now as well, it was obvious he was trying to intimidate Jake. 

Jake didn’t care though, his grin only widened. “Yeah, my old man’s giving him a hard time... Why don’t you just accept that he’s the alpha here.” 

Chris’ face reddened with anger as he took a step closer to the bold man. Piers watched them cautiously, ready to interrupt if necessary. 

Chris glared Jake in the eyes, growling his next words. “You can tell your old man he’ll get what he deserves the next time I see him.”

Jake smirked back playfully. “And what would that be, tiger?”

“My fist up his ass. Now get the fuck outta my way!” 

Before Chris could get violent, Piers took his arm and dragged him away from Jake, trying to calm the situation. “Chris, stop it. He’s not worth your attention.”

Jake’s face lit up, he knew he had found something new to poke his nose into. “Hey pup, a bit daring today, aren’t we?”

Piers watched him with a confident face. “You heard him, fuck off.”

Jake took a step closer to Piers, his eyes had that livid sparkle again, not tolerating the other man to utter his opinions. “I didn’t quite get the part where I allowed you to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do.”

Chris had enough, he shoved a hand between them, pushing Jake back in a sudden movement, which caused the bald man to stumble backwards a few steps. He protectively kept Piers behind him with his other hand. “I won’t say it again, leave us alone now, or you’ll learn it the hard way.” 

Jake put his hands up in defense. “Alright alright, I’m already gone.” He walked away, but turned around one last time. “See you at full moon, Redfield.”

Piers sighed with relief, glad the bully was gone. “What the fuck was that?”

Chris turned to him again, shrugging his broad shoulders in response. “Jake always needs to get on everybody’s nerves.” 

Piers stuffed his hands in the big front pocket of his hoodie. “Well, luckily he’s gone now. Don’t have the nerve to deal with his shit right now.”

They paid their burritos and searched for a bench to sit on. They found one in front of the fountain, which was located in the center of the town square.  
Both men sat down and unwrapped their breakfast. 

Piers bit into his burrito, he was glad to eat something proper for the first time that day. “What was that with the full moon, he spoke of?”, he asked with his mouth full.

Chris leaned back as he chew, swallowing the food before he answered. “Well, he can only hurt me at full moon, because he’s a werewolf.”

Piers choked on his burrito, wondering why he even got startled after everything he learned the past few days. He wiped tears out of his eyes, Chris was watching him curiously.  
“Why do I even ask anymore...”, Piers coughed, still trying to get rid of the lettuce in his throat.

Chris laughed, wishing he could help Piers out of his misery. “It’s good to ask, you need to know what’s going on. Jake is one of the few werewolves living here, that’s why he is so arrogant and aggressive; it’s in his nature. Werewolves are known to be reckless and forward.”

Piers’ head was now visibly red, as he managed to spit out the lettuce. “I see...”

“Hey, are you alright?”, Chris asked, concerned. 

“Yeah, sure, I’ll live.”, Piers answered, grinning weakly. “I mean, after all I’m a vampire now, nothing’s gonna knock me over so soon.”

“Shh, quiet if you talk about it. Nobody is allowed to know”, Chris reminded the younger, whereupon Piers nodded in comprehension. 

“Did Jake turn into a werewolf as well?”, asked Piers, wanting to bring the topic back.

Chris shook his head. “No, for all I know a werewolf has to be born as one. He can’t become one, unlike vampires.”

Piers bit one last time into his burrito before he threw the rest into a bin. He was astonished about everything that he had never known of before, but Chris seemed to be well informed. He probably needed to, due to the fact he was involved in the mystery that surrounded Raccoon City.

Chris noticed his companion was far away with his thoughts, but he wanted him to know something regardless. “Piers?”

Piers came back to reality, giving Chris his full attention again. “Yeah?”

“There’s something you need to know. It’s important, don’t forget that ever.” Chris looked serious. “The thing about full moon I talked about earlier. Don’t take that easy, it’s really dangerous for us vampires. Never go outside at full moon, promise me that.”

Piers looked a bit confused, his eyes couldn’t focus on the other man. “Uh, yeah, but why...?”

Chris sighed. “Their bite is fatal for us. In 99 percent there is no chance to cure it; in other words it’s one of the few ways to kill us.”

Piers swallowed. This Jake seemed so eager about hurting Chris... There has to be something going on between their families obviously, it’s not just wanting to fight with someone who got in the way by accident. 

But Chris didn’t want to ruin their moods, so he stood up, squinting against the sunlight. “Come on Piers. I want to show you something.” He smiled as Piers got up as well.

“Gladly Chris, but let me get back home first. I really need to change my clothes, otherwise I’ll melt in the next ten minutes and you can show it to somebody else.”, Piers grinned, bumping himself slightly against Chris’ arm in humor.

“Sure, beauty queen.” Chris sneaked his arm behind Piers’ back to keep him at his side; Piers blushed a bit at that. 

After some time of silent walking, Piers stopped and showed with his thumb the direction where his apartment was located. “I have to go left now.”

“Okay. I have to go home myself, still need to pack a few things. Meet me at 5 pm at my apartment.” Chris released his arm from behind Piers’ back and looked him in the eyes, grinning. “Don’t die while I’m gone.”

Piers laughed. “Before you stepped into my life, I've never had problems with that. I guess you’re just not good for me.”

“Actually I’m the best that could’ve happened to you. Can’t deny that, pup.” Chris smirked as he mimicked Jake’s way of addressing Piers. 

Piers blushed again, his cheeks were now visibly red. Damn, what Chris always did to him. “Don’t call me that...”, he mumbled.  
He turned to go, he just wanted to get away from Chris to calm his nerves.

Chris patted Piers’ ass two times, as if he was motivating him to move forward. “Don’t be late. I can’t wait to see you again.”

Piers didn’t turn around anymore, his face was now all red and hot, Chris’ words caused the butterflies in his stomach to go crazy. Ugh, it was going to be a long evening. 

....................

When he arrived at Chris’s apartment at 5 pm (now wearing shorts and a light T-shirt to escape the heat), he saw the tall man store away a big bag in the back of his car. He wondered what Chris could’ve put in there.

Chris greeted him, his forehead glistened with a thin layer of sweat. “Hey Piers, get in. We’re good to go.”

They both took their seats in the car, Chris on the driver’s side.  
Piers asked where their journey would go. 

“I won’t tell you, you’ll see it when we get there”, Chris answered, winking mysteriously. Piers was okay with that.

The drive was in silence. Chris concentrated on the road while Piers used the time to look out of the window, enjoying the different trees and plants going by.  
They left Raccoon City behind and followed a country road, the traffic was almost completely calm now. They hardly met another car on their way.

After about half an hour they reached their destination. Chris pulled the car to a halt and Piers opened his eyes slowly; he must’ve dozen off during the ride.

“Hey sleepyhead, we’re there.” Chris pulled his keys out and opened the door, stepping out and inhaling the fresh air. It smelled like wood and pines and nature.  
But they haven’t left the warmth behind, it was only mitigated by the high trees around them. 

“Wow, it’s so... peaceful here.”, Piers stated. He walked around the car and took Chris’ bag out of the trunk. He stepped beside Chris and watched him; he looked happy to be here. 

Chris took the bag and smiled at Piers. “Thanks. Now let’s get to the place I wanted to show you.”

They didn’t have to walk long. After following a small beaten path Piers could spot something blue between all the trees; it seemed they arrived at a lake. There was a little sandy shore on the waterfront, separating the lake from the pine trees of the surrounding forest.

He stopped walking, taking in the sight. Chris continued going further until he realized his young companion wasn’t following him. He turned around, smiling at Piers’ overwhelmed expression. “It’s great, isn’t it?”

Piers nodded, quickly catching up to Chris. “It’s wonderful. I didn’t know of this place before.”

“Nobody does.” Chris dropped the bag when they reached the sandy shore and stretched his arms. Then he took his white tee off, letting it drop on the bag. 

Piers watched his every move, swallowing at the sight. “Uh, Chris, what are you doing?” His voice was shaking a bit.

Chris looked at him casually, he obviously hadn’t noticed the tremble in his voice. “I’m taking a bath, what else?”

Piers changed his weight to his other foot as he spoke. “But the water is probably super cold...”

Chris opened his belt and tossed the jeans to the pile on his bag. “Nah, it’s amazing, trust me.”  
He only left his boxers on as he went over to the lake. “You comin’, or what?”

“Uhh, actually I don’t want to catch a cold... Plus I don’t have a towel, you know.” Piers was clearly uncomfortable, Chris could see the blush on his face even from the distance between them.

“Don’t worry, I have one for you. Come on, the water is great!” Chris plashed his hands on the surface and moved a bit to show him the pleasant feeling of swimming in there. 

“Okay, you won.” Piers sighed as he removed his clothes and shot one last glance at his watch, it was past 6 pm now, before laying it to the other garments.  
He carefully approached the water, jumping back when his toe touched the cold surface. Pff, so much for "great water".

“What’s taking you so long?”, Chris called. “I’m all alone here, hurry it up a bit.”

“Yeah, calm down! I need my time, the water’s cold as fuck...” Piers’ teeth chattered a bit as he got deeper into the water, he never liked the cold. 

Chris picked up on that, so he came towards Piers and took his hand. “It won’t work this way, you need to make it fast and get it over with.”

“Chris, don’t you dare to –” Piers got cut short as Chris wrapped his arms around his back, pulling him flush to his chest, and let himself fall backwards. They both dove under with a loud smack, a giant wave splashed around the big human bundle. 

When they got up again Piers was gasping for air, every part of his body trembled. He stared at Chris, a bit angry at first, but then he bumped his fist against the other man’s shoulder while laughing. “I hate you!” 

Chris grinned widely at Piers, he still had his arms around his lower backside. He swam a small circle with the man on top of him, Piers’ arms were wrapped around his neck. 

Chris stroked a few wet strands of light brown hair out of his face with his fingers, simultaneously looking into Piers’ sparkling eyes. He snaked his left hand up Piers’ back slowly, tickling his wet skin sensitively. The hand landed behind his head; the breathing of the younger man increased, his chest heaved with nervousness. Chris smiled at the reaction and brought his head closer. They both were now eye to eye, they could smell their breaths from how close they were. Piers smelled sweet, just how he would’ve imagined it.

Chris couldn’t deny how much he wanted him, he closed his eyes and the remaining gap between them as his lips claimed Piers’ full ones in a passionate kiss. He nipped at the lower lip, drawing a small moan from Piers. The action caused a slight stir in his boxers, the sound had been so quiet but at the same time so freaking hot. It made him want to taste everything, his tongue begged for permission as it licked over plump lips.  
He didn’t have to wait long, Piers’ mouth opened soon to let him enter his warm insides, Chris’ tongue immediately explored the wet orifice. It tasted even better than he had expected, he felt himself getting lost in the sensation. He didn’t want it to end, the feeling of euphoria was too overwhelming.

After a short time of dancing tongues they parted, both panting heavily. Piers’ cheeks were flushed as he licked over his swollen lips, looking away sheepishly.  
Chris felt as if he was in heaven, the man in his arms felt so good. He lifted Piers’ chin with his hand and saw the smile on his face. Okay, everything seemed to be alright. 

“Come on Piers, let’s get on shore. You’re shaking again.” Chris rubbed Piers’ back to keep him warm.

When they were back they dried themselves with the towels Chris brought.  
Chris was a bit afraid he did something to Piers he wasn’t comfortable with, even if he acted like he was at the moment. “Piers, are you okay? I didn’t do something, you didn’t want, right?”, he asked carefully. 

Piers smiled as he took a step closer to him. “No Chris, it was perfect.” He rose himself on tiptoes and gave the man a quick peck on his water-wet lips. 

Chris smiled too now and wrapped his arm around Piers’ back, keeping him there as he kissed him back with a short but sweet kiss, releasing him afterwards. Piers seemed entirely happy. 

A few minutes later Piers searched the bag for a few blankets; it began to chill now, the sun was starting to settle slowly.  
Chris prepared a bonfire. He piled a few dry branches together and lit them with his lighter. He looked at his bright work in satisfaction, allowing himself a cigarette. 

Piers had sat down beneath a blanket around the bonfire, trying to warm his hands. Chris sat down beside him, crushing the butt of the cigarette in the sand. He took the lean man in his arms again, Piers laid his head on Chris’ shoulder and closed his eyes, humming quietly to the comforting tickle he received from his partner.

“I used to be here with Claire when we were younger.”, Chris broke the silence, watching the flames as they disappeared into the dark sky. “Our parents died early.”

Piers sat up slowly, looking Chris in the eyes. “I’m sorry to hear that...” He took Chris’ hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. 

Chris smiled sadly and intertwined their fingers. He lifted his hand and examined the deft fingers of Piers, giving it a quick kiss before removing his hand out of it. “I think we should sleep now. I’m pretty exhausted.”

“Good idea, I could use some sleep as well.” Piers laid down in front of the bonfire and closed his eyes. When Chris wanted to turn around, he took his arm and draped it around his torso. “Stay with me.”, he whispered.

Chris smiled and moved closer to the man, pressing his body flush against his backside. He gave a few small kisses on his neck, gripping him tighter, before lying down as well and dozing into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I nailed the kiss scene. It was exciting to write it, can't deny haha


	6. Midnight snack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the middle of the night Chris and Piers get attacked, leaving Chris with a deep wound. Piers and Claire try their best to save him.

A low growl had Piers awake in a second. Was he still dreaming, or had he really heard it? There! There was that growl again; he hadn’t erred. He hoped it wasn’t a hungry bear... 

He sneaked out of Chris’ loose embrace and tried to wake his partner by shaking his shoulder forcefully. But Chris only murmured something inaudible and turned away, still being sound asleep. 

Piers tried again, frantically this time. “Chris! Wake up!”, he hissed. “There is something in the woods...”

Chris mumbled something that sounded a lot like “you kidding me now” and sat up ever so slowly, rubbing the sleep out of his eye with one hand, blinking them open finally. As they managed to focus they saw Piers sitting right where he had fallen asleep earlier, but his eyes were wide open in shock. He moved his head in all directions to get a look around their sleeping place; he didn’t seem like he was joking actually. 

“Piers, what’s wrong?” Chris’ voice sounded raspy, so he cleared his throat, hoping it would help.

“I don’t know, I think I heard a growl... But I’m not sure where it came from, I was still asleep a minute ago.” 

Chris tried to puzzle the pieces together, but his head was still in rest mode. Then he heard that said growl too and his brain was wide awake suddenly. “You mean that?”, he asked as he sprang to his feet and grasped a few of their things off the ground, stuffing them into his bag. 

Piers looked a bit confused as he saw Chris this hectic. “Uh, yeah, that’s the growl I heard before.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Come on, help me, we need to get out of here as fast as possible!” He helped Piers up and together they had gathered all their stuff within seconds. “Be careful, always keep an eye on your surroundings...!”

“Okay, will do...” 

Chris threw the bag over his shoulder and took Piers’ hand hurriedly as he began to run, startling the other. 

But Piers was glad he wasn’t alone here. It wasn’t that easy to orientate yourself in the dark forest with no source of light.  
“What was that anyway? A bear?”, he asked as he stumbled after Chris. 

“No, there live no bears here”, Chris gasped while they kept running. His eyes lit up once he saw the black vehicle behind the pine trees. “Finally! I can see the car, over there!”

They were almost at Chris’ car now, only meters away from their escape. Relief filled both men as they approached it, already dreaming about getting home and falling into the soft sheets of Chris’ double bed. 

But then it turned out differently. An animal got in their way, it was big and had tousled grey fur, its yellow eyes were staring intensely at them. It bared its teeth at the two men, aggressively growling again. It was the same growl they had heard before.

“Look, it’s just a wolf...”, Piers sighed with relief. He and Chris were vampires, they would be able to deal with a single wolf.

But Chris didn’t seem to be relieved at all, he positioned himself in front of Piers with the intention of protecting his young partner, keeping him behind with his arm. “Don’t get too close, it’s a werewolf...!”, he hissed.

Piers flinched in shock, remembering their conversation while eating burritos earlier that day. If this really was a werewolf, they had a big problem right now. He hadn’t even realized today was full moon.

The werewolf came closer now, circling around them as he examined his prey. Chris watched him all the time, his brown eyes sparkled with anger and determination. 

“Look who we have here...” The werewolf let his tail slap against Chris’ leg as he finished his inspection and faced them again. “Redfield and his little pup. How adorable.”

Chris’ face turned from tensed to surprised for a short moment. “Jake?”

“Didn’t I say we would meet at full moon?”, the wolf spoke. If he would’ve been able to smirk he would’ve done that. 

“Did you follow us?”, Chris asked, the anger now slowly coming back. 

The werewolf sat down and licked his paw calmly. “Nah, didn’t need to. I smell vampires from miles away, especially two tasty-looking desserts like you.”

Piers stepped up from behind his human cover and dared to take a step closer to Jake. The wolf looked up from his activity and glared Piers in the eyes with interest.  
“Let us through. You know we are stronger once this night is over. You will regret it tomorrow, trust me.”

Jake got up from his sitting position and growled dangerously low.  
Chris took Piers’ arm and pulled him back. “Piers, what are you doing?!”, he whispered reproachfully. “There is no toying with werewolves! He gets angry at least ten times faster right now, don’t get on his bad side!”

The werewolf watched the two men arguing, deciding now would be a good time to attack. He had noticed the way Chris protected the other man (apparently called Piers), he must have an important role for the big vampire. So if he wanted to settle up with Chris, it was his best bet to aim for his young companion. 

He startled both men as he snarled loudly before jumping at them. Chris reacted first, he managed to get in the way before Jake could reach Piers, getting tackled to the ground in the process. Piers fell backwards as they wrestled for dominance, he watched in horror as the werewolf bent over, trying to bite Chris in the neck.  
The vampire was able to keep his opponent far enough away at first, as he clasped his hands around the aggressive mouth to prevent getting bit. But he had no chance at full moon, Jake’s powers were much stronger that night. 

So the inevitable happened, the werewolf freed himself from Chris’ grasp, his sharp claws bored themselves into the vampire’s chest to keep him pinned, causing him to scream in pain.  
Piers rose up from the hard ground unsteadily and made his way towards the fighting pair. He shoved his full weight against Jake with all the powers he could bring up. Unfortunately it seemed like it hadn’t helped, the werewolf’s stance was still steady and composed, but his attention was now on Piers. 

Jake had a malicious undertone in his voice as he spoke. “Be grateful to sit in the front row, pup.”

Piers was confused, his head was spinning like a carrousel. “What do you mean?”

“It’s better if I show you, isn’t it?” Jake turned away from Piers and bored his claws deeper into Chris’ chest. His victim cried out loudly, teeth were clenched in pain, a bead of sweat ran down his temple. 

“Piers, just... get away from here!”, he pressed out, his hands were grasping around the werewolf’s legs stuck in his flesh. 

“No!”, Piers retorted, tears forming in his eyes. “I won’t leave you alone!”

Jake cocked his head and looked Chris in the eyes. “Aww, you two are so cute. Too bad it all ends now!” The last words were shouted as he leaned down suddenly, his sharp fangs sunk mercilessly into Chris’ neck with no trace of gentleness. Chris’ scream intensified at the action, his fingers were practically boring holes into the wolf’s legs from how hard they were grasping them. 

“NO!”, Piers screamed, trying a second time to separate the two, his fury controlled his actions now. Jake may be stronger tonight, but he should never underestimate an angry vampire. 

Piers wrapped his arm around the wolf’s neck and yanked him off his partner, ungently releasing the wiggling animal a few meters away and kicking him with full force into the ribs. The werewolf howled and limped a few steps back, licking the blood off his mouth with the tongue. 

“You can say farewell now, he won’t make it anyway, hahaha.” With that Jake was gone into the dark night. 

Piers was at Chris’ side in an instant, kneeling down beside the wounded man. The bite on his neck was huge; several bulges were filled with a deep yellow liquid and moved slowly. It was evident that Jake had injected Chris a kind of poison. His skin was pale and his shirt soaked in blood from where the claws had been in.

Piers didn’t know what to do. Chris was sweating heavily, his breathing was weak and his eyes were only open to small slits; it looked like he was looking right through Piers, not having the strength to focus on anything. 

A tear rolled out of Piers’ eye, but he wiped it away quickly and took a deep breath. No, there was no time for that now, Chris needed him.  
He leaned down and shoved his arms beneath the bulky man, trying to lift the body up and off the ground. But it was how he had expected it, even though he wasn’t weak, it was almost impossible for him to lift a body as heavy as Chris’.

He chose a different method, his arms were now snaking under Chris’ armpits. Sweat formed on his forehead as he dragged the man over the ground all the way to his car, setting him down against the back door. He searched his partner for the keys and found them in one of the front pockets of his jeans. 

His fingers were shaking as he opened the door, almost causing him to drop the keys. With an audible groan he heaved the unconscious body onto the passenger seat and fastened the seatbelts. He hastened around the car and sat down behind the steering wheel, starting the engine and speeding off into the dark night. 

...................

Piers parked the car in front of Claire’s apartment block and helped Chris out of the vehicle. He felt a bit like a mother caring about her little child, but pushed the thought away quickly. This was serious, Chris’ life was in his hands now and he needed to bring him to the redhead as fast as possible.

He dragged Chris to the lobby and saw on a sign that Claire lived on the seventh floor, so he called the elevator and brought them inside.  
While driving upwards he felt Chris’ full weight against him. It was heavy, but he managed to stand straight all the way up. 

Then finally the door opened and he walked over to Claire’s apartment, pressing the bell a few times and knocking on the door, hoping Claire would understand the urgency. He righted Chris and leaned against the doorframe while they waited.

After some time he heard a key moving in the lock, the door opened and he could see Claire. Her eyes looked tired, her undone hair was ruffled and she wore pyjamas with little bunnies on it. She looked like she expected a damn good reason why he would wake her in the middle of the night.

“Claire, thank god you’re awake!”, Piers had a expression of relief on his face. “You need to help Chris, something awful happened!”

She was awake in a second as soon as her brain registered what Piers had said, taking a look at her brother now. Piers was right, he didn’t look healthy the way he clung at the young man’s shoulder.  
“Come in and place him on the couch!”, she instructed, turning on the lights in the living room. 

Piers did as he had been told, lowering the tall man onto the soft pillows. After that he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm and knelt down beside the couch. He took Chris’ hand in his and gave it an affectionate squeeze.  
He thought he could see Chris smile faintly and felt the big fingers twitch slightly in his hand. 

Claire looked at her brother and could instantly see the prominent bite on his neck. She knew immediately what it was and turned pale, feeling the need to sit down, otherwise she would probably fall over.

Piers was quick to catch her, letting her sit down in the armchair. “Claire, are you alright?”, he asked, concerned.

She swallowed, her skin colour was slowly coming back. “Yeah, I’m fine... Don’t worry about me. But Chris...”

Piers interrupted her, not wanting to hear what she was about to say. “Can you help him?”

Claire sighed deeply. “Right now I can’t do much for him.”

Piers’ worries increased as he heard the words. “What? But there has to be a way...!”

She nodded slowly. “There is a way. But I don’t know if we have enough time, a werewolf bite can kill a vampire within a few hours if we get unlucky.” 

He swallowed and looked at the weak vampire. Whatever he could do to save him, he would do it. “What shall I do?”

Claire got up and walked over to her brother, stroking her tender fingers through his short hair. “I need a specific kind of herb. But it’s hard to find and the way is dangerous.”

Piers didn’t hesitate as he answered her. “I’ll get it and bring it to you, I promise.”

Chris coughed from his position on the couch as he tried to voice his complaints. “No... Piers... Don’t.”

Claire and Piers looked at him, both surprised that Chris had listened to their conversation.  
“Chris?”, she whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

“Claire... I don’t want to put Piers...”, he coughed again. “...in danger.”

Piers took his hand again and smiled sadly at him. “Chris, I’ll be fine. But we need to do something, I don’t want you to die.”

Chris smiled back weakly. “If you really have to... But don’t go alone.”

Claire laid her hand on his healthy shoulder and squeezed it slightly. “I’ll make sure to find someone who accompanies him.” She disappeared in another room to make a call.

Piers sat down on the edge of the couch and stroked his hand over Chris’ cheek tenderly. His eyes glistened with tears. “We’ll get you through this Chris, everything will be fine.”

Chris looked at his partner, branding his facial features deeply on his memory. He wasn’t so sure if he would survive this, but he was glad he got to know Piers, even if it was just for a few days. “Piers... I wanted to thank you. You gave me the feeling of being loved. I never had that before.”

Piers stared at him with a shocked expression. To him it sounded like Chris had spoken in defeat. “Don’t tell me, you’re giving up! I swear, if you die before I get back, I’ll kill you.”

Chris chuckled, causing him to cough again. “Nah, don’t worry. Someone once told me, nothing’s gonna knock him over so soon, the same goes for me. I’m a Redfield, we fight till our last breath.”

Piers had to suppress a small smile as he heard Chris repeating the words he himself had used when the lettuce had been stuck in his throat. “You better do. I’ll find that herb and make sure to save your ass, even if you don’t deserve it at times.” 

Chris grinned, that was the spirit he liked. 

“I’m gonna call Claire as often as possible to check on your condition.”, Piers added.

Chris’ face changed to a serious expression now, knowing he had to say goodbye soon. “Piers? I want you to come closer.”

Piers obeyed and leaned down.  
Chris’ hand rose slowly, it was obvious the movement took a lot of effort for him. He placed it behind Piers’ neck and brought him closer, sealing their lips in a loving but weak kiss. 

They parted again, Chris removed his hand and let his head fall back into the pillow. That had been exhausting, but it was worth it.  
“Take care, Piers.” He was a bit worried that he wouldn’t be there to help if it was necessary.

Piers smiled. “I will.”

Chris felt like he was about to fall asleep soon, but he still had something on his mind he wanted Piers to know. “You still have no control about it... If you don’t pay attention, you might become... a ripper...”

Piers tried to understand what he meant and came to the conclusion he was referring to his blood drinking. 

“It’s pretty hard to... get you out of that state.” Chris’ eyelids felt heavy as he tried to stay awake. 

Piers laid his hand on Chris’ head and stroked through his hair. “Shh, rest now. You don’t have to worry about me. Claire will find someone who keeps an eye on me, I’m sure.”

With that Chris closed his eyes, reassured by his partner’s words.

In that moment Claire came back from her phone call, approaching both men. “Piers?”

Piers turned around, curious about whom she had picked for the journey. 

“Leon will come with you, he was the only one I could contact. I hope you don’t mind.”

His face lit up, of course he didn’t mind! The blonde vampire’s presence always had been pleasant for him, his calm and caring manner was comfortable in every way.  
“No, I don’t mind. When will he arrive? We need to get going as soon as possible, Chris’ state worsens.”

“He’ll be there in a few minutes. In the meantime I’ll mix Chris something to retain enough energy.” She went to her small laboratory and came back with a bottle of... something. She drenched the liquid to his mouth. “I can delay the impact of the poison in his body, so you have a bit more time to find the herb. But I can’t impede the progress forever.”

Piers nodded, he knew how urgent she needed the herb. And he would make sure she received it as fast as possible. He stroked his thumb over Chris’ hand, sighing. He only met this man a few days ago and now everything could be over so soon. Chris was the reason he turned into a vampire and had to go through all the suffering, but he didn’t mind as long as the other was at his side. He needed to make sure it stayed this way.

A knock on the front door brought him back from his thoughts, but Claire was quicker to open the door. 

Leon entered and wanted to see his ill friend first of all. He saw him right there on the couch, where he had dropped Piers a few days ago as well. His sight wandered over to where the hands of Chris and Piers met, causing him to smile slightly. He had picked up on Chris’ interest in the young man from the beginning; he was glad his friend had succeeded, from what he could see.

He came closer and laid his hand on Claire’s shoulder, giving it an affectionate squeeze. “Don’t worry Claire, we’ll save him.”

She smiled as a tear rolled over her cheek. “Thank you Leon. I’ll never forget what you two are doing for my brother.”

“That goes without saying Claire.”, Piers said as he stood up. “He would’ve done the same for us.”

She nodded and wiped the tear away. She told them where they would find the herb and that they should be careful on their way. There was a reason why only a few vampires could get cured from a werewolf bite, because not many witches owned this herb due to its dangerous location. She repeated the urgency to hurry, Chris didn’t have much time left.

Leon and Piers nodded in comprehension and turned to set off. Leon told his sleeping friend he shouldn’t die in the meantime, and Piers gave him one last kiss on the forehead. Then they left the apartment.


	7. A dangerous encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon and Piers search for the herb to cure Chris. On their way they meet a mysterious woman, not knowing what her intention is.

They left the apartment block and got in Leon’s car. Their destination was about one hour away, so they didn’t want to waste any time.  
The herb they searched for should be located pretty high on top of a mountain, Leon had received more or less accurate coordinates from Claire. 

The sun was rising up slowly, Piers was glad they didn’t have to bother about werewolves anymore. One victim was enough to take care of.

Piers looked out of the window as they drove in silence. He wasn’t sure if it was because neither of them knew, what to say, or because Leon preferred it quiet right now. But he was fine with that, his thoughts were far off anyway. He permanently had to think about Chris and hoped he would be strong enough to hang on while they were gone. Hopefully he and Leon would find that herb soon.

After some time Leon could see the top of a mountain in the distance. “Hey Piers! I think we found it!”

Piers came back from his train of thoughts and looked through the windshield, seeing the mountain as well. His face lit up a bit, at least they had been on the right route so far. “Great! Now let’s make sure to find the herb.”

Leon drove further, soon they were at the foot of the mountain. The path got bumpy and it wasn’t that easy to get past the shrubbery beside and partly on the path with his car. He decided to park it right there, expecting nobody to be here that early. 

They got out of the car and started following the uneven path. High trees and thick bushes surrounded them, it felt as if they were in some sort of European jungle.  
If the situation wasn’t so drastic, it would have been a nice place for a little trip. Piers thought that Chris probably would’ve liked it too. 

Leon cut some vines out of the way with his knife. “How did it happen anyway?”

Piers, who was following him, was a bit startled at the sudden question out of nowhere. “What do you mean?”

“The werewolf bite.”

“Oh...” Piers knew Leon would’ve wanted to know eventually, but he didn’t really want to think back to that horrible night. “Well, we went to that lake and –”

“What lake? You mean in the park?” 

Piers shook his head, even though Leon couldn’t see him anyway. “No, I don’t really know where it was. But it was already pretty late, so we fell asleep and in the middle of the night I heard a growl. I was awake in a second and woke Chris, we packed our stuff and were about to get the hell out of there. Shortly before we reached his car, the werewolf got in our way. Turned out it was Jake, we’ve met him earlier while eating breakfast. Anyway, they fought and Chris got bitten. I drove him to Claire, and... Well, you know the rest.”

“I’m a bit surprised that Chris had been so irresponsible. He should’ve known it was full moon.”, was all Leon answered to this little story.

Piers shrugged. “He probably forgot it. I didn’t know either.”

Leon grinned a bit. “Yeah, ‘cause you guys were busy making out or whatever.”

Heat rose in Piers’ cheeks, how did he know? “Leon! That’s not what –“

The blonde man stopped suddenly – Piers almost bumped into him – and turned around, looking at the younger with one eyebrow raised. Piers ducked his head in defeat, he didn’t know what to say to get away with this.

Leon smirked, continuing their walk. They came closer to the top of the hill, it shouldn’t be far from now on. “What are you two now? A couple or somethin’?” 

Piers didn’t really know what to answer, he wasn’t sure himself. “I don’t know, actually.”

“Well, if you ask me, you should be. I’ve never seen Chris so happy. Before he met you, he was reckless and killed more people than anyone could count. He did that day and night, it was his favourite activity. I don’t know what you did, but it obviously helped him to get out of his misery.”

Piers swallowed. He hadn’t done anything, had he? But he was glad that Chris had changed to the better because of him. Not just for Chris’ sake, but also for the people living in Raccoon City. 

He decided to call Claire and check up on Chris, since they were already talking about him anyway. But as he pulled out his cell phone, he realized quickly that up here was no signal. “Shit!”, he cursed.

Leon turned around. “What’s wrong?”

“We can’t contact Claire.”

Leon shrugged his shoulders. “Then let’s just make sure to hurry up and get back soon.”

The path got rockier the higher they got. The scrub became less and everything went stark and steep. They had to jump over small gaps from time to time, tiny rocks would loosen and roll into the depth. Sometimes they had to help each other over high mountain ledges.

Sweat formed on their foreheads, all this climbing and ascending was pretty exhausting.  
“How far is it still?”, Piers gasped.

“I think we’re almost there.” Leon pointed to a crevice, which had developed itself in a big rock. He could see something blue shimmer in between, guessing that was the herb Claire had been talking about. 

They had to walk over a small ledge and carefully pressed their backs against the wall behind them, preventing them to fall over and several meters into the unknown.  
Piers’ knees felt weak, no wonder nobody ever made it up here. 

Both exhaled with relief when they felt firm ground beneath their feet again. 

Leon already made his way over to the crevice to remove the herb from it, but he didn’t make it far, because someone stepped up from behind the rock. It was a woman, she wore a black coat over a red turtleneck and had a crossbow slung over her back.  
She came closer, with a mysterious look on her face. 

Leon examined her with suspicion. “What are you doing in a place like this?”

She stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t know why I should tell you.”

“You don’t have to, I don’t wanna know. Just let us pass by, there’s something we need to take care of.”

She shook her head, chuckling slightly. “Sorry, no can do.”

Leon and Piers looked at each other in confusion.

“You want the herb behind me to cure a vampire.”, she stated.

Their confusion increased, how did she know that? It was evident; there was something incredibly wrong with that woman. 

As if she could read their thoughts, she said: “You’re asking yourselves now, how I knew that. Right?”

Piers got impatient slowly, they really didn’t have the time for this bullshit. 

“You’re not the first ones who want such a herb, several others have tried it before as well. But if they didn’t already fall off the cliff, I killed them.” The woman smirked. 

Piers was shocked. “Why would you do that?!”

She walked a bit closer to them, her eyes sparkled with malice. “I’m a vampire huntress, that’s why.” 

Leon swallowed indistinguishably, he didn’t know there existed species called vampire hunters. 

Her brown eyes glared into his blue ones as she continued. “Blue herbs are the only way to cure a werewolf bite. If an affected vampire wouldn’t receive the herb, he would die eventually and I could spare the work myself.”

Leon scoffed, unimpressed. “You the guard here or what?”  
She responded she would take a look here from time to time.

Piers couldn’t hold back his anger anymore. “Enough of that, get outta the way now! We don’t have time for your shit!”

She turned from Leon to face him now, and with graceful steps she walked over to where he stood. Her eyes sparkled with infuriation. “You should rather be quiet unless you want to find out what I can do to shut you up.”

Leon put a hand between them and shoved Piers back, looking at the woman as he spoke. “We don’t want trouble, we just want to help our friend.”

She watched him with an unreadable expression, shaking her head eventually. “Sorry, but I can’t let that happen.” She retrieved her crossbow from behind her back and aimed at Leon. “Unfortunately I have to kill you now.” She pulled the trigger and the arrow flew directly into Leon’s heart.

...................

Claire made her brother a tea with many exotic herbs and looked at the clock. It was about two hours ago since Piers and Leon had gone to search for the cure. She thought now would be a good time to call them and ask, if everything was going alright. 

She placed the cup on the coffee table and dialed Leon’s number. She waited a few seconds, but nobody picked up. It surprised her, she would’ve expected them to be contactable at every time. After all Chris was in life-threatening danger and if something happened, they should be able to know. 

Chris noticed her worry and tried to calm her. “They probably just have poor signal up there.” 

Claire sighed as she sat down. “Yeah, maybe. But I still don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Chris took a sip of his tea and leaned back. “They’re smart. And they know how to defend themselves. I’m sure they’re fine.”

“I hope they didn’t have an accident... the mountain is not really safe, there are dangerous cliffs. If you fall down from them, there won’t be much left of you.”

“Claire. Stop fantasizing about things that probably won’t happen. Just hope for the best.” 

Her brother emptied the rest of the tea and laid down again, pulling the warm blanket over himself. The bite on his neck had become bigger, its yellow bulges were now spreading down the side of his chest. The wounds of the claws that had been stuck in his chest were gone by now, due to his passive healing ability. He had gotten a slight fever, he didn’t feel like doing much besides sleeping. 

Claire covered his shoulders with the blanket, sighing deeply. She hoped Leon and Piers weren’t in trouble and would find the herb soon, her brother needed it urgently. 

...................

“Leon!”, Piers screamed as his friend stumbled backwards, the arrow stuck in his chest. The woman was surprised he was still able to stand actually. 

Leon looked at the arrow in shock, but caught himself soon. This was nothing he hadn’t already seen before. He gripped the arrow and pulled it out in one go, causing blood to splash out of the wound. The hole began to close itself slowly, leaving nothing but a blood soaked shirt as evidence. 

The woman laughed unimpressed. “I should have known you two are vampires, not many normal people dare to come up here.” She exchanged the arrows with wooden ones. “Okay, time for plan B.”

Piers came down from his state of shock, shaking his head slightly in recover. “Why are you doing this? We could walk out of here with nobody getting harmed.”

She chuckled as she placed a wooden arrow into her crossbow. “To be honest, I don’t have a choice. As a vampire huntress I am compelled to kill vampires whenever I see them. Although I can resist, I have way too much fun with it.” 

Leon watched them attentively. While the woman was occupied with her crossbow, he used the moment to dare an attack.

But she seemed to have picked up on his plan, dodging his assault skillfully with an elegant backflip. Leon rolled over as he realized his attack went into nothing.

“Oh, you want to play?”, she asked as she straightened herself again. “With pleasures!”

Leon couldn’t even blink before she was on him from behind, wrapping her arm around his neck, cutting off his airways. He gasped as she took a few steps back, his hands were grasping around her arm in weak attempts to free himself from her firm grip. 

“Piers...!”, he called, his voice raspy. Tears formed in his eyes as the grip tightened. “Help... me!”

Piers looked around frantically. He had to help him, but how? Then his glimpse fell on the arrow that laid on the ground from moments ago. 

The woman was searching for her wooden knife in the front pocket of her coat, while she watched Piers’ every move with eagle eyes. 

Piers didn’t want to put Leon in danger by doing something stupid, but he didn’t know what to do else. So he grabbed the arrow and ran towards his captured friend, ramming the weapon with full force directly into his heart. The arrow was large enough to go through Leon and into the woman as well. 

Leon managed to squirm himself free out of her grasp and watched as she slowly sank to the ground. The arrow had left a bloody wound, the red liquid splashed out of it and ran down her clothes. They could hear a dull thud when her dead body fell on hard stone. 

Leon’s breath was quick and unsteady, the adrenaline was still running through his veins. “Thanks Piers...”, he pressed out. 

Piers didn’t register what had been said to him, all he could do was stare at the woman and the blood that emitted out of the fresh wound. He could feel his eyes turn bloodshot and tried to shake it off, but since he was a rookie vampire, it wasn’t that easy for him. 

“Piers?”, Leon repeated, noticing the weird behaviour of the other man. He made his way over to where Piers stood and placed a hand on his shoulder, apparently pulling him out of his trance. “C’mon, we gotta hurry.”

They went over to the crevice and Piers watched Leon as he loosened the soil in the crevice and retrieved the blue herb with its roots from it. He stuffed it into his pocket and turned around, motioning Piers to follow him back to the car. 

The way back was much easier for them, because now they needed move downwards and could jump from ledges, not having to climb them up. 

After some time they could hear a faint chatter and laughter, probably people who wanted to enjoy the beautiful midmorning in nature and away from the noisy city. 

Leon didn’t mind them and kept going, but Piers felt his need coming back. He tried hard to suppress the urge to go after them, but felt unable to do so. His last meal had been a day ago, the hunger wasn’t going to dissipate just because he wanted it to. 

So when the couple came closer, his teeth changed to the usual large ones and his brain started to go on hiatus, only focussing on the important task: blood.

He pushed himself past Leon, ignoring the surprised exclamation.  
The couple seemed to notice him now, the woman had a concerned look on her face. “Are you okay?”, she asked as she saw Piers’ red eyes. 

Piers only smirked, showing them his sharp teeth, before he jumped at the woman, sinking his teeth in her flesh and sucking her empty. Her boyfriend was too shocked to do something to stop the monster on his girlfriend, his eyes were wide open as he watched the whole scenario. 

The vampire retracted his teeth from the woman and let her fall to the ground ruthlessly, turning to the man now. The man stared at him as he approached him slowly, fearful eyes wandering down to the blood on his chin, before he regained his senses and tried to run away. 

But Piers was faster, he blocked the way and smiled at him. “Going somewhere?”, he asked, not waiting for a response as he bit into his neck as well.  
While drinking the blood he saw Leon appear from behind a tree, knowing it was time to back off. He pushed the weakened man into his direction, Leon caught him and almost tripped over doing so. “Piers!”

When he stood straight again, he couldn’t see Piers anymore; the young vampire must’ve disappeared into the thick scrub. 

“Dammit!”, he cursed, frustrated at how things turned out in the end. How was he going to admit that to Chris and Claire? It was irresponsible from him not to feed Piers blood before they started the trip, of course it was just a matter of time before he would get hungry.  
Not to mention the two dead people, there was no way he could help them now. 

He sighed in defeat, continuing the remaining way to his car before he stepped in and headed back. At least he had the herb and could save Chris now; they had to worry about Piers later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Piers, what are you doing. :/


	8. Good or evil?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon and Claire find a mentally deranged Piers, who had already carried out several murders. They bring him to Chris; he is their only hope to help him. Will he succeed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think, this will be the last chapter, for now at least.  
> Lately I can't seem to find neither the motivation nor the time to continue this story, that's why I've kind of written it with an open ending. But when I find the motivation and time again, I'll probably add another chapter.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who read this story <3

Claire rushed to the door as soon as she heard the bell. She opened it in a swift motion and caught sight of Leon, whose breath was quick and short. He held a blue herb towards her, looking triumphantly, seeming proud that he had made it back so fast. 

She was relieved to see him and took the herb, immediately mixing a cream with it. When she was done, she smeared it over the werewolf bite on Chris’ neck while Leon watched her. 

“Where did you leave Piers?”, she asked.

Leon shifted uncomfortably, scratching the back of his head. “Oh, uhh... I’ll explain that later. Right now we should focus on Chris.”

Claire nodded and wept away the sweat on her brother’s forehead with a wet cloth. 

Chris opened his eyes slowly, he had unconsciously noticed a change of conditions in the apartment. His eyes settled on Leon, the blonde man was standing beside Claire and looked right back at him. Chris smiled, “Did you find the herb?”

“Yes. Claire has already treated you.” He gestured towards the wound with a nod. 

Chris looked down at it, seeing the yellow bulges reduce in size and stop moving now.  
His eyes wandered up again, looking around the room. But he couldn’t see a certain brown haired male whom he would’ve liked to see while waking up. “Where is Piers? Did something happen to him?”

“Well...” Leon stuffed his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, looking down ashamed. “Yeah, I think you could say that.”

Chris sat up in an instant, feeling his head ache at the sudden action. Claire looked at him with a warning expression, pushing him down again.  
Chris grunted something, but obeyed. “What do you mean with that, Leon?”

Leon sighed, he would have to tell the whole story in order to help Piers.  
He told them about the encounter with the mysterious woman on top of the mountain and how Piers’ behaviour had changed when he saw the blood. He should’ve known better, but he didn’t pay too much attention to it, because he took care of the herb. On their way back they had met a couple, which Piers attacked. Leon had wanted to stop him, but Piers could escape without being seen another time. “I’m sorry, Chris.”

Chris was angry, he punched the nearest pillow with full force as he shouted at Leon. “Why didn’t you keep a closer eye on him?! You know he has no control!”

Leon flinched at his words and Claire shot her brother a look of reproach.

He sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. “Sorry Leon. Didn’t mean to shout at you. It’s just that I’ve warned him about it, and now exactly that happened.”

Claire placed a hand on his shoulder. “We should stop blaming ourselves for what happened, that won’t bring him back. We should focus on finding him, before he can do something really stupid.”

Leon nodded in agreement.

Chris wanted to get up and help them, but Claire refused. “You still need to rest, Chris. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find him.”

Chris agreed reluctantly, lying down again. Leon patted his shoulder. “We will call you as soon as we find him. Stay put, and don’t do anything stupid. If you start to feel worse, get in touch with us. Okay?”

Chris nodded and watched as they walked out of the apartment. He hated to be powerless, especially if it involved someone close to him who was in danger. And Piers was close to him. 

.................

Claire and Leon decided to separate, so that they could search more efficiently.  
The mountain, where Leon had lost Piers, was facing the eastern side of Raccoon City, so it was only logical that Piers must be somewhere in the east, if he was there at all. If not, they had to search on the mountain later.  
Claire searched the outer area of the city while Leon took care of the inner area. 

After some time she found a corpse on the floor, its neck was bloody and ripped apart. She knew immediately it had been a vampire causing this wound, possibly Piers.  
She knelt down and placed a hand on the bite. She spoke a few magic words and the wound disappeared, so nobody would come to the conclusion it had been murder. 

Claire stood up again, already catching sight of another corpse a few meters away. She dialed Leon’s number and waited for him to answer the call. “Leon?”

“Yeah?”

“I think, I found him. Head to the golf course, he should be there somewhere.”

“Understood. See you there, be careful.” 

She pocketed the cell phone again and walked over to the other corpse. From there on she could follow the dead bodies without a problem, always making sure to conceal the wounds. 

Finally she found Piers where she had expected him to be. He was currently sucking blood from a golfer, but looked up when he heard her appear behind him. He turned around, causing Claire to take a few steps back at the sight. His eyes were completely red, his skin was pale and his mouth was covered in blood, the red fluid was running down his chin all over his collarbone and onto his grey shirt. 

Piers smirked maliciously as he wiped the blood on his hands away with his already dirty shirt. “Hello, Claire.”

She stared at him, unable to move as he came closer. “Hi, Piers...”  
She swallowed. “What are you doing here?”

“What does is look like?”, he asked rhetorically. 

Claire crossed her arms and tried to appear composed. “You’re coming with me. Chris wants to see you.”

Piers laughed. “I don’t care what he wants.”

Claire growled slightly, starting to feel annoyed by his behaviour. He had already lost his humanity apparently; they would have to work hard in order to get the old Piers back. 

“You can’t do that forever. We’ll take you back, whether you want it or not.” She glared him in the eyes, the first wave of shock was rolling out now. 

He scoffed and looked down at her, not interested in the slightest about what she said to him. “You can’t tell me, what to do. I like being like this.”

She laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. “Once this is over and you’re your old self again, a wave of guilt will wash over you, when you remember, how many people you have killed. I know you a bit by now, you wouldn’t get over it.”

“I don’t plan on getting back to who I was. I don’t care if people die because of me, I only care about the feeling of sucking them out.” He licked his lips and smirked again. 

She looked at him with sadness and frustration. “I would’ve never thought to hear such awful things out of your mouth, Piers.”

Piers only shrugged, her words still didn’t reach him.  
Then he saw a familiar figure appear behind Claire on the golf course. His grin widened. “Hey Leon. You here too?”

Leon looked at him with determined eyes. “Yeah.”

“Did you manage to deliver the herb in time?” It was a stupid question, because he already knew the answer, but he wanted to provoke him a bit. 

Leon shifted in arising rage, but managed to stay calm. He knew Piers wasn’t really interested in the answer, but responded nonetheless. “Yeah.”

“Wonderful.” Piers stepped back a few steps. “Now that we have reunited altogether, I would like to gain my personal space again. Excuse me, but the meeting ends now.” Piers bowed elegantly and turned to go. 

But Leon wasn’t as gentle with him as Claire, he gripped Piers’ upper arm and glared him in the eyes. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Piers stared at him with indignation, trying to free his arm but realizing that Leon’s grip was tighter than he had expected. He growled. “Let me go.”

Now it was Leon’s turn to smirk. “No.”

Piers tried another time, but again to no avail. He got angry now, his red eyes flashed with wrath. 

“You can try as often as you like, but you won’t succeed. I’m stronger than you. I’ve been a vampire for way longer. Give it up.”

Claire dialed her home number and followed Leon and Piers on the way back. Then after some seconds, someone picked up the phone. “Chris?”

“Claire?”

“Just wanted to tell you we’ve found him. Returning home now.”

“Thank god.” She could hear her brother sigh with relief. “Is he alright?”

She looked at the snarling vampire who got restrained by his friend without his will. “...Yes and no. Physically yes, but he lost his humanity. He doesn’t care about anything at all.”

“Fuck.”, Chris cursed. “Get him here anyway. We’ll figure something out.”

“We will. See you then.” She hang up and closed the distance between her and the two vampires.

..................

Chris sprang instantly to his feet when he heard a key turning around in the lock. He greeted them at the door, Claire was going in first.  
He reacted just like his sister did when he saw the bloody Piers in Leon’s tight grip, puzzled at the sight of him trying to snap at the other in an attempt to utter his displeasure. 

He wanted to take Piers’ hand to calm him, but the younger man pulled it away quickly and glared at him. Chris only shrugged, accepting his behaviour. 

Claire got a chair from the kitchen and Leon placed Piers down on it, realizing soon that he wouldn’t stay there for long with the way he wiggled around so much.  
“Chris, get a rope or something, so we can tie him to the chair.”, he instructed.

Chris hesitated. “Is that really necessary?”

Leon looked at him with an expression that didn’t allow objection.  
Chris sighed in defeat and disappeared in Claire’s storage room, searching for something adequate to "tie him to the chair", as Leon had put so nicely.

After rumbling around a bit, he returned with a long skipping rope. “Claire, why do you still have that?”

She reddened and ducked her head sheepishly. “You know, skipping is still fun. You should try it yourself.”

He laughed as he handed Leon the rope. “Yeah, well, actually no.”

Piers glared at them with a withering look whilst he got tied to the chair. “You know, restraining someone against their will is indictable.”

Leon made sure to make it painful for him, as he tied the rope tighter around his wrists than necessary. “You know what’s also indictable?” He knotted the ends with such force that it cut slightly into Piers’ arms, causing the other to hiss. “Murder.”

Piers only scoffed, not interested at all in what Leon wanted to tell him. “Let me free now, we don’t have to fight like this. I’ll be gone and won’t bother you anymore.”

Claire knelt down in front of him and laid a hand on his knee. “We’ll let you free, when the old Piers is back.”

Leon nodded. “She’s right. Neither you nor us want you this way.”

Piers laughed in disgust. “As if you guys know. I don’t have a problem with what I am now.”

“Piers...” Chris looked down at the tied man. “You can’t stay like this. You are a threat for the inhabitants of Raccoon City.”

The ripper chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. “And that comes out of your mouth, Chris. Aren’t you the blood-thirsty vampire, who kills everything that crosses his path?”

Claire gave his knee a slight slap and shot him a reproachful look. “Piers!”

But Chris didn’t pay much attention to his words, he knew he only said that because his humanity was off. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. But unlike you, I have control over what I’m doing and am aware of the consequences. I know that you don’t want to do that. You couldn’t live with the guilt.”

Piers scoffed, not knowing what to answer. They seemed to know everything about him apparently. If they would’ve asked him, he would be gone within seconds, continuing his favourite activity.  
But they didn’t ask him, so he had to wait until they were finished.

When Piers didn’t answer, Chris put him a question. “How many did you kill?”

Piers smirked as he shrugged his shoulders. “Dunno? Didn’t count.”

Leon rolled his eyes. “How did you get here so fast anyway?”

“Took the car from the couple. Kind of them, wasn’t it?”

Leon crossed his arms over his chest. “If you say so.”

Claire stood up, sighing tiredly. “Piers? Do you want tea to calm your nerves a bit? I’m sure it’ll help with your confusion.”

“Sorry Claire, but you can drink it yourself. I’m not interested in that shit.” Piers looked at her without a trace of empathy. 

Leon couldn’t hold back the anger anymore, his knuckles turned white from how hard he was clenching his fists. “Maybe we should torture him a bit, enough is enough.”

Chris held him back. “No Leon, we are not going to do that. I’ll talk to Piers; you and Claire leave the apartment. I think he won’t open as long as he gets confronted by so many.”

Leon looked at the young man in the chair, who tried again to free himself. He sighed, placing one hand on Chris’ shoulder. “Alright, I’ll get Claire. But be careful, that little beast could rip your heart out without you knowing, haha.”

Chris chuckled, secretly thinking about how Piers had already done that.  
He followed Claire and Leon to the door and closed it behind them. 

Piers leaned back in the chair and looked over Chris, nodding impressed. “They brought you back in shape. Not bad.”

Chris smiled as he sat down on the couch, facing Piers. “Yeah. Was a close call.”

“Well, at least our little trip wasn’t for nothing then.”

Chris looked into his red eyes, searching for a hint of empathy. Was there a tiny bit of relief in them? “Yeah, um... thanks for that by the way. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Don’t thank me, I don’t wanna hear it. The Piers who had done that for you is no more.”

...Okay, so much for that. Chris shook his head, trying to compose himself and focus on the task. “Piers... you need to come back.”

Piers laughed. “No, I don’t need anything actually. I’m glad about how things are right now, it’s lot of fun.”

“I don’t believe that. Deep down you know that you are not happy with what you currently are.” Chris stood up and knelt down in front of his partner, placing a hand on his leg. He would’ve preferred to take his hand, but unfortunately it was tied behind his back.

Piers was unable to turn away from his current position, so he stared back. “How do you wanna know that?”

Chris smiled sadly. “Because you told me. You told me how awful I was for biting you and several other people. You changed me to the better, just because you were there. I miss you, Piers.”

“Well, I’m right here Chris.”

“No, I don’t miss the Piers in front of me. I miss the Piers whom I had said farewell to, the one who had done everything to save me when I was in danger. The Piers, who cared about his fellows and not mocked them. The Piers, who would’ve protected people and not kill them.” Chris squeezed his leg the same way he had done before, when Piers had needed comfort.

The tied man cocked his head as he tried to understand the words Chris had thrown at him. His eyes flickered with confusion, the words must’ve triggered something in him.

Chris leaned himself closer, he was able to see right into Piers’ eyes now. “Come back, please.”

The flickering eyes switched between red and hazel now; Piers apparently tried to return to his normal self, but still couldn’t manage to find a way.

Chris saw that and cupped his chin, giving him the gentlest kiss he had ever given someone. It felt pleasant, it felt familiar; but most importantly, it felt right. It felt where Piers belonged, here with Chris, his lips on the older man’s, his soft cheeks rubbing against stubble. 

Chris could’ve done that forever, he wanted nothing more than Piers in his arms and his sweet scent in his nose.  
He hoped it had been enough to remind the other about their wonderful time together and how everything could go back to how it had been before.

When he pulled away he could see right into hazel eyes again; there was no trace of the dangerous red anymore. Chris wiped the tears in them away with his hand and smiled. “There you go.”

Piers smiled back, but shifted uncomfortably in his chair, coughing a bit. “Chris, could you... untie me, please? It’s really starting to hurt, you know.”

“Oh, yeah, sure...” Chris retrieved his pocket knife and cut through the ropes. 

As soon as Piers was free, he flung his arms around Chris’ neck and let his tears roll without holding them back. Right now he just needed the other close to him, his presence always helped him to calm down and forget everything around them.

Chris wrapped his arms tighter around Piers, wanting to give him the feeling of not being alone. “It’s alright... Shh, hush now. It’s gonna be alright.”

“Chris, I remember everything...”, he sobbed. “The murders, the words I said to everyone of you... oh god, they’re gonna hate me.”

“Shh, calm down Piers. Nobody’s gonna hate you. We understand that, it was an accident. You didn’t want this, it’s okay.” Chris looked at him and wiped over the wet cheeks with the sleeve of his sweater in an attempt to dry them. 

Piers sighed and reached up to catch Chris’ lips again, pulling the other man closer with his arm around his neck. On his journey with Leon he had found out that he didn’t want anything other than Chris. He was so glad that Chris was still alive, even if he didn’t act like it when he had his humanity off. He wouldn’t know what to do without the warm embraces or passionate kisses Chris only reserved for him.

When he pulled back slowly, he saw into the other’s loving brown eyes. “Chris, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Anything.” 

Piers stroked the back of Chris’ head with his hand. “I... I want you.”

Chris was taken by surprise, he looked at Piers in disbelief. “Sorry, what ?”

“I learned on my trip with Leon, that I want nothing else but you, Chris. He had opened my eyes, he made me realize that we are so good for each other and should hold onto it. I almost lost you, so I won’t make that mistake again and wait any longer.” Piers smiled and took Chris’ big hands into his. “What do you say?”

“I, uh...” Chris didn’t seem capable of getting any words out at the moment, but after a short time of recovering they just burst out of him. “I... I want you too, Piers. You can’t imagine how much I actually want you. I want to have sloppy dates with you, I want to care for you, I want to make you feel good. All this lovey-dovey stuff a couple does, you know.” He grinned. 

Piers’ eyes widened and his cheeks reddened, but then he grinned too. “Are you saying that you want me to be your boyfriend?”

Chris smiled now and kissed him again, faintly this time. “Yes. I want you to be my boyfriend.” He took Piers’ hands and gave them a feather-light kiss. “Come, Piers. Let’s get home.”

They walked hand in hand in the warm evening sun and smiled in happiness. Since they were vampires, they would have plenty of time to get to know each other, explore unknown places and experience thrilling adventures together.  
After all, maybe being a vampire wasn't so bad, Piers thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really satisfied with Leon's characterization in this chapter, I know that normally Chris is the hotheaded guy who would torture someone to achieve his goals haha :D But since he loves Piers, he wouldn't do that, and Claire even less. So, sorry Leon that you had to take the mean role ;)


	9. A bit of this and that ...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris and Piers return to Chris' apartment. As for them being boyfriends now, some things happen between them… and they talk about someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, so like I've already mentioned last chapter, I wasn't even sure if I would continue this story. But this chapter kinda wrote itself, haha ;D 
> 
> This chapter contains male/male sex, so if you don't want to read this but still want to see how the story continues nonetheless, you should be able to skip the part (it's practically the whole middle part). 
> 
> I wasn't even sure if I wanted to write the scene so detailed and if it would fit for the story, but I figured that some people might like to read it. So I wrote it.

When they reached Chris’ apartment, it was already evening. Piers was pretty exhausted from the day, killing several people wasn’t something that normally stood on his daily schedule. 

“You tired?”, Chris asked and pulled the other in a comforting embrace. He rubbed his back in smooth motions and heard his boyfriend sigh with relaxation. 

“Yeah…” Piers placed his head in the crook of Chris’ neck and inhaled the aftershave on him; it helped to soothe his mixed feelings. He felt miserable, he felt wrong, he felt misplaced. He never asked for any of this. Sure, he was glad he got to know Chris, but it shouldn’t have been. It wasn’t his life.

“We could stay inside today and just watch a film if you want?” Chris pressed a small kiss on his head and swayed him a bit, because he knew it had always helped when Claire was upset, when they were younger. 

“Sounds good…” Piers closed his eyes and leaned into the embrace. After some time he retreated from Chris and looked up at him. He had the gentlest smile on his face. “Thank you.”

Chris smiled back. “For what? I didn’t do anything.”

“For being here. With me. I don’t know what I’d do without you these days.”

Chris chuckled and went to the kitchen to get them a beer. Piers got comfortable on the couch meanwhile. “Well, uh… If it hadn’t been me, you wouldn’t even have to be in this situation. So you don’t have to thank me for anything.”

Piers watched him as he leaned his arms on the backrest and propped his head on them. He grinned at the statement. “So, are you saying… You only do this, because you feel like you owe it to me?”

Chris came back and threw the bottle into Piers’ lap. “Maybe I just feel sorry for you, because you are a cute little rookie vampire who doesn’t know what’s going on.”

“Hey!” Piers caught the bottle and chuckled at him. “I’m not that lost.”

“Oh yes, you are.” Chris let himself fall on the couch beside Piers and opened the bottle. He took a long gulp and leaned his head back. “But, you know, it’s kinda amusing watching you. You’re really hot when you have all that blood on your body.”

“Oh, that…” Piers looked down at his blood-soaked shirt and grinned lopsidedly. “Maybe I should clean it up.”

“Nah. Stay here.” Chris placed his beer on the coffee table and pulled the other close before he could get up.

Piers grumbled something, but obeyed. He felt Chris’ fingers stroke through his hair lovingly and sighed. “You are ruining my hair.”

Chris laughed. “Sorry. Forgot you are so sensitive when it comes to your hair.” He withdrew his hand, but Piers took it and placed it on his head again. He chuckled and continued his activity from before.

“I am, but it feels nice…” Piers closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation. It had been too long since someone did that to him. “It could be like that forever…”

Chris smiled. “It can. We’re vampires, already forgot? We don’t age anymore, we have plenty of time now… Just you and me.”

Piers sighed as he shifted slightly and looked at his partner. “I think being a vampire isn’t so bad. If we just ignore my massacre from earlier…”

Chris chuckled slightly at that. “You know, sooner or later every vampire will experience that.”

“I wish I would’ve never experienced that.”, he grumbled and snuggled closer to his boyfriend. He was like the only thing that could keep him sane at the moment. Chris placed a small kiss on his forehead.

“Chris?”

“Hm?”

“What is it you like the most about being a vampire?”

Chris thought for a second. “I like being strong and independent. And the improved senses are a huge advantage too, I think.” 

Piers nodded. He agreed with that, the feeling of being powerful does make you feel really good; whenever someone has the need to get on your nerves, you can just shut them up with one simple move – and that frightened him. A lot.  
Chris seemed so calm about all this. Sure, he has been a vampire for much longer now. But after everything he has told Piers, he had accepted his new form apparently from the beginning, without doubt, without concern. 

It didn’t matter now anyway; they both were who they were, and there was no going back. All Piers could do now was making the best out of it, he was sure that with Chris by his side everything will work out for him eventually. He could still learn a lot from him, Leon and Claire, and he was willing to do that.

“Hey, you still there?” Chris shot him a look of concern, worried that Piers would think too much about it again. He definitely needed a break, the last days were exhausting enough and he was sure his younger partner was going through a lot right now. His thoughts were probably spinning in his head.

“Uh, yeah. I’m still here.” Piers smiled and drew a few invisible patterns on Chris’ chest with his finger. “Say, what is it you don’t like about being a vampire?”

“Asking a lot of questions, huh?” But Chris smiled back, indicating he wasn’t mad but rather delighted about it. “Sometimes I don’t like the intensified feelings. You know me, I can be really temperamental at times. That alone is annoying enough – I don’t need amplification.” 

“Yeah… always with the head through the wall, huh?” Piers grinned and received a little smack on his butt for that comment. “Ow! That’s sensitive, you know!”

Chris rubbed over the spot and squeezed the bun gently. “Nice one by the way. I noticed from the beginning. Would always steal a glance when you wouldn’t look.”

“You may not know, but I caught every little stare. Every time. My senses are sharp, nothing gets past me. Just so you know, for your future investigations.” Piers crawled a bit higher and on top of his boyfriend, so he was on the same level with him and could look directly into brown eyes. He smirked. “But I don’t mind. Not a bit.”

“Wouldn’t want it any other way.” Chris wrapped his free arm around his partners back and pressed their bodies together, so not even a piece of paper would fit through them. “But intensified feelings also have their perks, you know.”

“Huh?” Piers blinked at that, he thought they’d left the topic behind. 

“Yeah, well. Positive feelings are also increased… Which means I can make you a lot happier, can make you feel better, can love you all the more. Come here.” Chris pulled him closer and caught plush lips with his own, tasting the faint trace of beer on them. He could hear Piers moan slightly through parted lips, causing his emotions to go crazy – his favourite aspect of being a vampire. Whenever he had sex with someone (which had been awhile now), it was all sparks and fireworks. 

“Chris…” Piers explored the other’s mouth deeper now, his tongue seeking every spot to get a taste of. He had never kissed someone so turned on, and he definitely had his fair share. Women and men alike, it didn’t matter to him as long as he was drawn enough to his partner. Though he had to admit that kissing a man always excited him a bit more; probably because he also liked being the submissive one in bed from time to time. 

Chris slid his fingers below his waistband and squeezed his butt now without clothes in the way. He parted their lips and took a look at his partner, who was panting heavily and apparently having a hard time pulling himself together. “Yeah… what is it babe?”

Piers shivered slightly at the name and arched his back from the touch he received. It should be forbidden to feel this good from a simple squeeze, but he couldn’t help it. Was it because he was a vampire now? It didn’t matter, and he certainly didn’t mind if it would always feel like this. 

Chris smirked as he slowly maneuvered two fingers close to his precious hole. He teased the ring a bit, not daring to slide them in for now. He loved the reaction from his boyfriend, a small bead of sweat has already formed on the side of his forehead.  
“What do you say? Bedroom?”, he asked him in a husky tone. 

Piers could only muster to nod and pressed their crotches together, feeling the other’s hard-on as much as his own.  
He wrapped his arms around his partner’s neck when he was being lifted by the strong arms of the older vampire. He nibbled on the other’s earlobe with impatience as he felt the need to touch and kiss him again.

Chris stumbled into the bedroom, still with Piers on his hands, and closed the door with his foot. He made sure to lower his boyfriend as careful as he could while being so horny and desperate for making love to him. He didn’t want this to be some quick fuck – he really cared for Piers and wanted to show him how much he meant it. Besides, the freshly converted vampire deserved every bit of love after everything he went through the last days. 

Because of the darkness the room was in, Piers had some troubles seeing anything. He didn’t had to though, Chris already flipped on the light on the nightstand. He could see the man standing on the bedside, it looked somewhat mysterious with the glow of the dimmed light that shone on his muscular body and the dark lusty eyes that stared at him. He immediately blushed and felt intimidated by the Adonis that stood in front of him and eyed him hungrily.

Chris took everything in his sight; from the way Piers laid there with his bottom lip slightly tucked between his teeth, to the hand that lazily clasped bits of his bloody grey t-shirt, and then his slightly bent legs. He was so handsome, it was impossible for Chris to just stand there and not lean down and claim the man. 

“God Piers, you are so gorgeous.”, he stated as he joined him on the bed and propped one arm beside Piers’ torso while running the other hand through latte brown locks. He noticed the slight blush on his cheeks and smiled lovingly. He then leaned down and kissed him again, tenderly and without the need to rush anything. They had plenty of time, and he was going to enjoy every precious second. 

Piers was lost in the sensation of this affectionate kiss, he’d thought it would be more rough and ruthless with Chris in bed. But he didn’t mind it one bit, in fact, he appreciated every little gesture towards him, for example the hand that grabbed his hip gently right now. He never felt so comfortable around someone and really wished it could be like this forever with him. 

Chris explored every part of his partner’s mouth with his skillful tongue, tasting every sweet spot inside to make sure everything was covered. 

After some time their mouths parted and only a thin string of saliva clang between them. Chris panted slightly and rubbed his hand up and down Piers’ hip. He turned his face to the other’s ear and whispered: “I want to see you. All of you. I want to map every part of your body with my tongue as to never forget how beautiful you are.”

Piers shivered at those words and moaned just the slightest while running his hands over Chris’ covered back to feel his boyfriend’s strong muscles. “Chris…” He pushed him away gently and helped him pulling his shirt over his head.  
The sight was mesmerizing, hard pecs and abs were lightly coated with a thin layer of hair and sweat. He could see him flexing his muscles a bit, as to show how much of an Adonis he was. No lie, though. 

“What?”, Chris asked, grinning. He knew that reaction, several partners he had sex with before were staring just like that. He couldn’t blame them, he definitely wasn’t your average type of man that could easily get looked over. It still amused him every time though, he liked putting his partners in awe.

Piers scratched his head a bit sheepishly. “Nothing. You’re just super hot, y’know.”

Chris smirked, now it was his turn to take Piers’ shirt off. He discarded it somewhere on the floor behind himself and placed his partner down again with one hand. The light caused Piers’ body to shine golden, his young smooth features glistened under the dimmed light.  
Chris could spot the diagonal scar of the knife attack that Piers had received recently, the only flaw on his otherwise perfect body. He was well muscled as well, not as much as himself, but still impressive. He definitely hit the gym regularly.

“Lost your voice somewhere?” Piers grinned. “Never seen a man naked?”

“Oh shut up. You’re just average.” Chris winked to show he was just joking. Of course Piers knew how good he was looking, who wouldn’t with that body and face of a model. 

“’s that so?” Piers played with the rim of his shorts and pulled them down just the slightest, revealing a bit of his goodies. 

Chris could feel himself salivating, he didn’t have the patience anymore to go slow with Piers. That cocky bastard needed to know where his place was, and it definitely wasn’t above Chris in that matter. Well, not now at least. 

So he leaned down and bit his boyfriend gently in the neck, not enough to hurt him, but enough to keep him quiet. His sharp fangs tasted blood, but he didn’t care. Vampire blood didn’t affect his senses, it was just a way to show other vampires his affection and attraction (even though Piers didn’t know that). But he could feel that Piers liked it, he moaned his name and grabbed his ass in hopes to gain more satisfaction. 

“You like that baby?”, Chris huskily asked as he placed more kisses down his neck and collarbone. 

“Fuck yeah…” 

Chris sucked on a spot to leave a bruised mark for everyone to see. Piers was his and only his, everyone else should see that immediately.  
He went lower now and licked over his right nipple, which earned him more sighs and suppressed moans from his partner. His left hand traced over the scar on his belly and finally slipped beneath his shorts. He felt short pubic hairs from a recently shaved groin and his dick instantly became rock hard (although it already was from their kissing and touching).

“Chris, please… Touch me.” Piers’ pleas sounded urgently, desperately. He really wanted to feel Chris’ big hands on his cock, it drove him mad that he only touched his body ever so lightly.

“Getting impatient now, are we?”, Chris teased, but obeyed. He pulled his pants down in one swift motion and still took his time to eye Piers’ goodies. It was impressive, probably not as big as his, but still impressive. It was hard to beat his length anyway (not that he wants to swagger). 

He grabbed his dick and stroked it gently from base to tip, pressing his thumb over the slit and back down again. He heard Piers sigh, and smirked lustfully. 

“Chris?”, Piers managed to get out between gasps and heavy panting. 

“Yeah?”, Chris responded, still occupied with his boyfriend’s dick, which already leaked a bit precum in anticipation.

“Would you do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Then… ahh… get naked as well, please… I would… I can’t…” Piers clenched his eyes shut and moaned openly, Chris definitely knew what he was doing to him. If he continued this, he wouldn’t last any longer.

“Of course.” Chris stopped his movements and gave Piers the opportunity to breathe again, while he stripped out of his own shorts. A bead of sweat ran down the younger man’s temple as he saw his huge hard boner, and he couldn’t suppress the urge to swallow. 

“Damn, Chris…” Piers licked his lips and sat up from his lying position to get a grip on his member. He leaned forward to wrap his lips around the tip of Chris’ cock, instantly swirling the tongue down the underside of his hard-on. He felt Chris’ fingers on the back of his head, the older man curled them in his hair to maintain his stance. 

“Fuck, Piers…” Chris cocked his head and closed his eyes as he concentrated on the sensation given to him. It felt so good, never before had someone given him such a stimulating blowjob. He could feel that Piers took more of his length into his mouth, all the while sucking and hollowing his cheeks to add pressure. It was impressive how far he’d already come, he almost got the whole in now. 

Piers felt tears forming in his eyes, but he didn’t care. He wanted to please Chris and his goal was to fit the whole dick in his oral cavities. He knew he was doing an excellent job with how hard Chris gripped his hair that it almost hurt and the grunts and moans his boyfriend emitted. 

“Piers… nghh, wait…”, Chris panted. He was close to orgasm now, but he didn’t want it to end yet. He still wanted to fuck Piers, show him how good it felt.

Piers retreated with an audible pop and looked up at Chris with shimmering, lusty eyes. His lips were wet with saliva, he licked over them to taste the saltiness of his boyfriend’s precum.  
Chris’ heart pounded so hart in his chest upon seeing this, he felt so much love in this moment which he just had to let go. So he cupped Piers’ chin and kissed him again, deeply and intensively. 

Piers slowly went back to the pillows and laid down, pulling Chris with him.  
Chris roamed his hand down Piers’ side again, feeling every muscle and the slight shivers he caused, and finally placing them between his buttocks against the tight ring of muscle. 

“Are you ready for that?”, he whispered gently and started to press them in slowly. When he saw Piers nod in agreement, he pushed them in a bit more, noticing the way he tensed up at that.

“Shh, relax baby. I won’t hurt you, I promise. Just open up for me. I’m gonna make you feel good, trust me” Chris kissed him again to distract him from the unpleasant feeling of the fingers in his ass. He felt that Piers opened up a bit more, he seemed to enjoy it more and more. So he scissored them in the tight passage, trying to stretch as much as possible as to prepare him for what was to come. 

“I think, I’m ready now…” Piers needed to feel more, his lust was becoming unbearable. It was much more than he was used to, partially because he was a vampire, partially because it was Chris who he was sleeping with. 

“Alright.” Chris pulled out his two fingers and fetched lube from the nightstand. He coated his dick with an appropriate amount of it and aligned the tip at his hole. “You want it bad, don’t you?” He couldn’t suppress the smirk that crept on his face. Everything about this was just so right, and it never felt better. Piers was so hot, it was hard to ignore the wet strands of hair on his forehead or the lusty hooded eyes, or the way he arched his back so sexy whenever he did something to him he liked.

“Fuck me as hard as you can.” Piers loved the dirty talk, it went straight to his groin. 

Chris slowly pushed his cock in, finding it difficult not to plunge in as deep as he could, because fuck, it felt so good inside. He knew it was better to take his time, because he really didn’t want to screw things with Piers. This between them was serious, this wasn’t some fling he didn’t care about. He wanted to make it good for both.

Piers’ knuckles turned white from how hard he clenched them in Chris’ bedsheets. He couldn’t suppress the moans, but he didn’t care. It was evident how much Chris liked it when he was loud and mouthy, because he thrust and gripped even harder every time he screamed his name. 

Piers’ back constantly rubbed back and forth from the force, and he gripped the headrest with one hand for leverage. When Chris hit that special bundle of nerves, he arched his back so much it almost hurt. 

Chris grinned to himself, knowing where to aim from now on. He made sure to constantly hit the pleasure spot over and over again, sending waves of ecstasy over his young partner. 

Piers reached up and bit Chris in the neck this time, it helped keeping his feelings and emotions under control and not turn into a mess from this sexual action. He sucked hard, so hard it caused Chris to grunt and pull back softly. 

Piers ignored it and instead closed his eyes again. “Chris, I’m close…” 

“Good, me too…” Chris kept his pace steady, still thrusting in and out relentlessly and hitting the spot that would turn his partner into a trembling mess. They were both extremely sweating, this cost them so much effort. 

“Nghh… mhhh… Chris, babe…” Piers couldn’t restrain himself from moaning as he placed a hand on his cock to stroke himself to gain even more satisfaction. The hard dick of his partner kept cramming against his prostate, and suddenly it was too much to bear. He tried to warn Chris, but said one simply kept his pace.  
Finally, thick ropes of cum spurted out and covered his upper body. His head fell back as he recovered from his orgasm, still panting hard.

Chris followed soon after, he sent his load straight into Piers’ asshole and collapsed on top of him right after. When his dick softened again, he pulled it out and fell down beside his partner.

“Woah….” Chris stared at the ceiling, his chest still rising steadily from the exhausting act of love. “That was –“

“– amazing.” Piers grabbed Chris’ hand and squeezed it lightly. They both laughed briefly and turned to face each other. For a few minutes neither of them said a word, they just laid there, regained their breath and watched each other intensely. 

Then after some time, Chris turned to face the ceiling again and Piers crawled into his arm and listened to his heartbeat. His left hand stroked Chris’ chest lovingly. “Hey Chris?”

“Hm?”

“Who is that Wesker guy actually, whom you guys talked about recently?” 

Chris sat up suddenly, startled by that kind of question. They’ve just had sex, great sex, and all Piers could think of was Wesker? He looked at his young partner, who also sat up because he hadn’t had much of a choice. 

“Why do you want to know? I just fucked you minutes ago. I hope you didn’t think about him during the sex?” Chris felt strangely insulted and also somewhat hurt. Well, his pride was at least.

“Well, is he hot?” Piers grinned, he just wanted to tease him a bit. 

“Wha –“ Chris couldn’t keep his mouth closed; was he serious now? Because he didn’t find it funny in the least.  
“Wesker is a monster, he is fucking terrible.”

Piers only shrugged. “You can be terrible but still hot, y’know.”  
Chris shot him a warning glare, whereat Piers giggled a bit.

“I’m just joking, Silly.” He placed a quick peck on his boyfriend’s stubbled jaw to emphasize his point. 

Chris grumbled something inaudible and ruffled through Piers’ light brown hair, still a bit upset. He decided to take revenge.  
“Well, he actually is hot.”, he simply said.

This time it was Piers’ turn to look at Chris with a puzzled expression. Chris only shrugged and raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m just joking.”

Piers pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, offended. “I was referring to you. Because you don’t make the best decisions, but are still super hot.” He turned away.

Chris crawled to him from behind, smirking all the way, and grabbed his hips, pulling him close in an instant. He placed a hot kiss on his neck and whispered: “You are still the hottest guy I’ve come across.”

Piers smiled and leaned into the embrace, enjoying the feeling of being in his partner’s arms. He turned his head to claim Chris’ lips in a chaste kiss.  
They laid down again, still tired from the day and their sex session. 

“But really now, who is this Wesker?”, Piers asked a bit nervously. He didn’t want to upset the other again, but this was plaguing him.

Chris sighed. “You really want to know, huh? Fine, I’ll tell you. After all, you need to know what’s going on here in Raccoon City, now that you’re involved.” He crossed his huge arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling again. “Wesker’s a psychopath. He’s a hybrid, a mix between vampire and werewolf, which makes him one of the most dangerous creatures that exist. He is determined to turn my life into hell.”

“Huh? Why’s that?”

“Wesker is responsible for the death of my parents.” Chris’ usually warm eyes darkened and his expression changed from thoughtful to bitter. “I’ve seen him ripping their hearts out of their chests. I was only twelve when I had to witness that. Since then I raised Claire all by myself and made it my goal to hunt that son of a bitch.”

Piers nodded slowly and swallowed visibly. That’s some news! He searched Chris’ face for any signs of… of what exactly? He didn’t even know. Probably discomfort, but that was evident anyway. “I can understand that.”

“And I will get him, eventually. However long it takes.” Chris propped his weight on one elbow and faced the young man now. “But it still pisses me off, that this motherfucker claimed Raccoon City as his territory. He sees himself as the leader of all the vampires and werewolves, and everyone has to submit to his will. But not with me… not with me.”

When Piers saw that determined expression on Chris’ face, he made a decision himself. “I’ll help you.”

“What? No…!” Chris sat up in an instant. “That’s way too dangerous!”

“No Chris, I’ve made up my mind. If this Wesker is really such an asshole, I’ll help you to put him down once and for all.”

“But you still can’t fully control yourself! You first need to learn how to deal with your abilities…!” Chris gripped his shoulder forcefully, hoping he could keep his partner from doing something reckless. He had no idea what Wesker was capable of, and therefore he was such an easy target for the maniac. He didn’t want Piers to put himself in danger.

Piers smiled at him and took his hand gently. “Then you’ll need to teach me. I won’t let you do this alone, we’re a team, remember?”

“I suppose I can’t keep you from this, right?”, he sighed. 

“Absolutely right.” Piers grinned. Chris really needed to stop worrying so much, he definitely could take care of himself. He wasn’t some whiny girl who didn’t know how to defend herself, so there was no reason to overact this whole thing. He bet when he learned how to deal with all his new powers, he would be a pretty strong and feared vampire. Probably not as much as Chris, but still.

Chris yawned tiredly and pressed a last kiss on his cheek, before laying down again and pulling the sheets over his torso. “Okay, but not today. Let’s catch a bit sleep and talk tomorrow. Have a good night Piers, and sweet dreams...” He draped his arms over Piers, as if to make sure he was safe and wouldn’t disappear from him again.

“Night, Chris…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I cannot promise that I will add another chapter. It comes with my motivation and time.  
> But it is not unlikely, even if it takes one or two months… :)
> 
> Edit: Wow I just read my previous chapters again and realized some things I've mentioned in this chapter don't make sense with what I've said in the previous ones (It's been awhile and I couldn't exactly remember every detail I wrote about the plot).  
> I fixed that and hope everything makes sense now.


	10. Old and new faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris has a talk with Claire after he wakes up the next morning.  
> He and Piers decide to go outside, where they meet someone. Later they have a heated argument, leaving Piers with a train of negative thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter came out early! :D  
> I don't have any more to say, so have fun reading :)

brrrrrr… brrrrrrr…

Chris turned around sleepily. 

brrrrrr… brrrrrrr…

He opened his eyes slowly. He couldn’t place the foreign sound, did that belong to his dream? 

brrrrrr… brrrrrrr…

“Goddamnit…” He rubbed a hand over his eye and sat up. Piers murmured something and turned his back to Chris, facing the window now.  
Chris let him sleep as he came to his senses. Finally he could tell what the source of the disturbance was: his cell phone! 

It still rang on the nightstand; the person who tried to call him was stubborn. Although Chris didn’t really want to answer the call (because he still wasn’t fully awake), it seemed to be urgent. So he picked up.

“Yeah? Chris Redfield?” He was startled when he heard his own voice. It sounded so raspy, even more than usual. He cleared his throat and hoped that would help to make it a bit better.

“Omg! Chris?” He didn’t even have to think to whom the voice belonged; he probably knew it better than his own.

“Claire? What’s wrong?” 

“You ask me what’s wrong? What the hell?” He could tell his sister was flustered. He pictured her sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee and reddish cheeks, messy hair and her cute pyjama right now, throwing incomprehensible words at him. 

“Claire, calm down. I can’t follow you if you babble like this.” Chris scratched the back of his head and threw a look at Piers. He hoped their call wouldn’t wake him; he deserved a bit sleep, especially after the previous night. He couldn’t suppress the smirk and small laugh that followed.

“Chris? Why are you laughing?” 

“Oh, it’s nothing, really.” He had obviously heard the skepticism in Claire’s voice, but decided not to tell her anything about the sex. His babysister could be a pain in the ass sometimes, especially when she wanted to know something about somebody’s private life. And her brother always was on top of her list. “Why did you call?”

Claire ignored the topic for now and decided to give her brother an answer to his question. “Chris, are you serious now? You disappeared yesterday after Leon and I got kicked out of my house, did you really think I wouldn’t worry about you? Piers was on rampage, everything and anything could’ve happened to you!”

Chris smiled at his sister’s concern. She really was an angel. “Claire, don’t worry, everything’s alright. I’m fine, Piers didn’t harm me. He is his old self again; I managed to get him back.” Chris shook his head. “And besides, you agreed to leave your house, so nobody kicked you out Madame.”

She only grumbled something because she knew he was right on this point. “Well, that’s good to hear. I’m so glad he’s back... it was horrible to see him like this.”

He sighed. “Yeah, it was.”

There was silence on the other line for a few seconds before Claire spoke again. “Where are you anyway? Did you bring him home?”

Chris looked at Piers beside him. He was lying on his belly with the blanket only pulled up to his hips, showing his toned, golden back in the rays of the morning sun. His breathing was steady, indicating he was still sleeping. “Uh, no. Actually, I took him with me to my apartment. You know, gotta be careful and make sure to prevent any possible relapses.”

“Uh-huh.” Claire’s voice held that skepticism again, she probably thought of this as a lame excuse (which it was of course). “You’ve had sex with him, am I right?”

“What? No!” Chris probably couldn’t get any redder. Luckily she wasn’t able to see his face through the phone.

“How was it? Better than your last time or worse?” She was smirking, Chris could hear that in her voice.

“Claire! We didn’t – well yeah, we did, but... Hey, that’s not the point!” His damn little sister. She could read him like an open book, it was a blessing and a curse sometimes. But there was no point in denying it anyway, she found out every time he had something with someone. But this time it was different, there really was something between him and Piers, not just sex.

“Chris, that’s awesome! I knew it! I knew it just from the beginning!”, she squeaked through the phone. It was so shrill that he had to hold the device a few centimetres away from his ear. 

“Claire, calm down... What did you know?” 

“Oah, what do you think?” She rolled her eyes at her brother’s denseness. “The chemistry between you two! My evil bad bro got all weak and soft the moment his cute little angel came into his life and saved him from his misery.” She giggled.

“Hey, he is not my cute little angel... And I don’t have a misery! My life’s fine the way it is.” 

“Yeah, you keep believing that. But we both know that I’m right.”

He grunted and decided not to reply anything. Sure, his life was a bit brighter since Piers stepped into it. But that did not mean it hadn’t been bright before as well; being able not to care for anything or anybody was relieving. When you don’t have to worry about anyone, you have more time for yourself and your preferences. It doesn’t matter what you do, because you don’t have to impress anybody. Everything just doesn’t matter.  
But now that he cared for someone, it wasn’t so bad either. 

“Chris? Are you still there?” Concern was laced in her voice again. 

He noticed the slight shuffling of sheets on Piers’ side – it seemed that he was waking up. “Uh, yeah. But I think I have to hang up now.”

“Okay, if you say so. I’m just glad that everything’s alright with you two.”

“Me too.”

“Oh and Chris?” 

He was on the verge of hanging up, but wondered what his sister wanted from him. “Yeah?”

She smiled, although he couldn’t see it. “Don’t screw it up. Piers is a really good guy, you two fit so well together. I can see how he makes you happy.”

Chris smiled back. “Don’t worry Claire, I’ve got this figured out. Stay safe, I love you.” 

“I love you more. Oh, and send my love to Piers too. Byee”

With that she was gone and Chris laid the phone back to its place on the nightstand. Piers had already opened his eyes and blinked up at him, unable to cope with the bright sunlight.

“Hey.” Chris smiled down at him and ran a hand over his chest. “Slept well?”

Piers could only muster a murmured approval. He wasn’t able to form a decent sentence as he was still in sleep mode despite the fact that it was already 11 am. 

“That was Claire.”, Chris informed him. But when he saw Piers’ confused expression, he added: “The person I’ve talked with.”

“Oh. I see.” Piers also sat up now and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “What’d she say?”

“She wanted to know if everything’s alright. You know, because we left without a word yesterday. She was just worried.”

“Yeah, that sounds like her.” Piers smiled at her empathy. He had liked the redhead from the beginning, it was really lovely how much she cared for her brother and other people. 

He thought back to the day he’d almost died because of Chris. Fortunately she and Leon had decided to save him, otherwise he wouldn’t be there right now.  
And when he was a ripper they’d made sure to bring him back, no matter what, even though they barely knew him. They were some true people. Chris too, of course, but he was different. He was between good and bad, not really evil but also not entirely upright. Piers knew deep down Chris was a kind man, but his moral decisions were more than questionable.  
Still, he was willing to give him a chance and see where this would lead them. Although Chris was a vampire who killed people out of fun, Piers couldn’t deny that he felt so safe and comfortable around him, despite his dubious actions. And that was a feeling he didn’t want to let go. 

He shook his head to get rid of all these thoughts. He’d just spent an amazing night with Chris and slept better in his arms than any other previous nights alone. He couldn’t tell where the thoughts suddenly came from, but he didn’t want them to bother him.

“Hey, is everything okay? You seem so distant.” Chris looked at Piers with a lot of concern in his eyes. He took his hand in care and squeezed it gently. 

Piers watched Chris and thought he could melt right there. What was he thinking again? Right, it must’ve been that Chris Redfield was the most perfect man in the world. “Sorry, I’m still a bit sleepy.” 

He leaned over and gave his partner a tender kiss. Chris placed his free hand on the back of Piers’ neck and smiled into the kiss. 

When the older man parted their lips, he pushed a tousled strand of hair out of Piers’ face. “Okay, just talk to me whenever you need to tell me something.” 

Piers smiled. “I will. Thanks Chris.”

The brown-haired vampire stretched his sizable arms and yawned loudly. “You know, I could use a nice meal right now. Preferably fresh and directly tapped from the source.”

Piers grinned. “I know what you’re referring to. Me too.”

“Alright, then let’s get up. It’s already far too late anyway.” 

“Aye aye, captain.”

..............................

Today was a rainy day. There was no trace from the warm sunrays that had woken both men earlier, only thick grey clouds that blocked the sun and its warmth. 

Piers shivered a bit as they walked through the streets to find someone suitable for them to drink of. He silently cursed his inability to choose the right clothing, he should’ve just done what his mother always told him: “Piers, always make sure to wear rather more than less. You can still take it off if it becomes too warm, that’s better than to feel cold because you decided not to wear enough.”  
He smiled. Women and their wisdom.

They turned a corner, and his smile instantly disappeared. His eyes widened and he felt like his jaw dropped. “No way, that’s not possible...!”

“Piers? What’s wrong?” Chris tried to pinpoint the reason why Piers was so puzzled. But all he could see was a woman on the otherwise empty sidewalk, several meters away from them. There really wasn’t anything special, so that definitely couldn’t be it.

“There...!” Piers pointed directly at the woman. “Do you see her?”

So it was the woman. “Yeah, but what about her? She seems normal to me.” Chris turned his attention back to Piers and studied his face. His mouth was open in disbelief and his eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. His beautiful hazel eyes shone sparkly, he blinked several times as if to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. 

“That...! That is the woman I’ve killed!” Piers shook his head and sorted his thoughts. “You know, when Leon and I searched for the herb to cure you...” 

The woman seemed to have picked up on their presence, because she turned around and came closer. She still wore that red turtleneck pullover and the black coat, the crossbow was placed behind her back as well. She looked just like the day Piers and Leon have met her, without a trace of the bloody murder that had taken place. 

She wore that mischievous smirk on her red lips as she made her way towards the men.

Chris composed himself and shook his head. “No way Piers, that’s not possible. You must mistake her for somebody else.”

But Piers was sure: it was her. “Chris, I don’t mistake people. It is her! And she’s coming closer. Be careful, that bitch probably has something in store. She knows that we’re vampires, there won’t be a way out of this without a fight.”

Chris grinned and crossed his muscular arms. “Don’t worry, no one has ever won a fight against me. And she won’t be the first, I’ll make that sure.”

She was only a few meters away from them now. Piers expected her to come even closer, but she stopped at that distance. She placed one hand on her hip and eyed them with a smug expression. 

“Well well, isn’t that the barking little vampire that tried to kill me a few days ago?” She smirked at Piers and turned her attention to Chris then. “And you must be their friend, who got bitten by a werewolf?”

Chris eyed her skeptically. Something about this woman was incredibly odd, but he hadn’t yet figured out what it was. “And who are you?”

She laughed. “Oh, none of your concern, really.”

Piers glared at her. “How are you still alive?”

She looked at her perfectly manicured fingernails, before smiling satisfied and grinning back at Piers. “Well, wonders never cease?”

Piers growled dangerously, he really wasn’t up for her little games. Chris had to hold him back with his arm, otherwise he would’ve probably jumped at her. He just didn’t like her presence at all, because he never knew what her next move would be. He usually was really good at estimating people and their behaviour, but this woman was different. He liked to gain information about his opponent, and hated to be left in the unknown. 

She came closer now – Chris tightened his grip on Piers’ chest. Partially because he wanted to prevent him from doing something reckless, and partially because he wanted to protect him. 

She stopped centimetres away from Piers and smirked at him. Then she placed her index finger on his lips, whereat Piers growled even lower. 

“You are cute when you’re angry.” She smiled and withdrew her finger, both Chris and Piers exhaled slightly when she stepped back again. Chris had been on the verge of shoving her away and starting a fight with her; nobody had the right to approach his boyfriend so closely and even less a woman that he barely knew and trusted. 

He stood broad and tall and glared at the woman. His eyes sparkled dangerously and his fangs began to grow, but this time not because of hunger, no, because of intimidation and fury. “Leave us alone. I’ll fight everyone that stands against us and I don’t make exceptions with women.”

She only laughed at that and shook her head. “Firstly, I don’t think that you are able to harm me. Secondly, I don’t feel like fighting today, sorry to disappoint you.”

“Tell me.” Piers stepped up. His chest still heaved a bit from the close contact with her, but he was a lot calmer now. “How did you survive? I saw your dead body.”

She looked at him. She had to admit that she was slightly impressed by his confidence and resistance. “Okay, I will tell you. But only because you were the first person who managed to kill me. I’ll give you credit for that.”

Piers nodded.

“As you know, I’m a vampire huntress. That means I’m a supernatural creature, just like you two. I can get killed normally, like every other person, but the big difference is that I have more lives.” She crossed her slender arms and watched their reactions.

Chris wasn’t really impressed. Although he didn’t know before, that species called “vampire hunters” existed, nothing in this city could surprise him anymore. He also wasn’t scared or frightened that she was a highly trained huntress set to kill people like him.  
“How many lives do you have?”, he asked sternly. 

“Five.” She thought for a short second and corrected herself. “Well, now four. But that won’t happen again.” 

“We’ll see.” Chris still glared at her suspiciously.

“Whatever.” She unfolded her arms and stepped back slowly. Before she left, she shot the end of her grappling hook to one of the rooftops around them. “Send the cute blonde vampire a kiss from me.”  
And with that she was gone.

Piers watched her landing on the rooftop. “Well, that gets better and better”.

“Uh-huh.” Chris shook his head and patted Piers’ shoulder. “Whatever that was, let’s hope not to see her again soon. I don’t want you to see me punch her brain out of her head.”

Piers laughed. “Oh come on, she isn’t that bad.”

Chris grinned. “Whatever. As long as she doesn’t touch you again.”

“Don’t be silly, I can take care of myself.” Piers pulled Chris with him as he started walking again, purposely in the other direction as not to run into the woman again. “Let’s get that blood finally, I’m thirsty.”

..........................

As they made their way through the borough, they crossed a playground eventually. Two children were playing in the sand, approximately eight years old. 

Chris grinned mischievously. “Looks like we found our objective.”

“What? No!” Piers took a step forward and grabbed Chris’ arm as he noticed the other’s attempt to move towards the young boys. “We can’t harm kids! You can’t be serious now, Chris.”

Chris shrugged. “Why not? I see no difference there.” He freed his arm from Piers’ grasp and looked back at him with a smirk. “Besides, children taste even better.”

Piers stared at him in disbelief. He watched the changing features of his partner’s face, the growing teeth, the purple veins and the bloodshot eyes. He was serious about that. God, what a dick. “No Chris, you wouldn’t do that. You’re not that cruel, please tell me you’re not that cruel.”

Chris’ red eyes sparkled dangerously. “Let’s find that out, shall we?” 

With that he turned around and was at the children’s side in an instant. Piers had tried to hold him back, but Chris was too fast for him to react. 

One kid ran away when it saw the big scary man approach, but the other kid never had the chance. Chris grabbed its small tiny arm with one hand and with the other its shoulder, basically denying the kid any possibility of escaping. 

Piers watched in horror as Chris sank his sharp teeth into the boy’s sensitive neck, sucking blood furiously out of it. He could feel his own need emerge, but did his best to suppress it. No, he wouldn’t do something so gruesome. He was a good man, he was obligated to stop Chris. 

Piers grabbed Chris’ shoulder forcefully and yanked him off the kid, this time with success (compared to the woman he had failed at the park a few days ago). Maybe it was because his powers were stronger now, or because he knew him a bit better and didn’t have to cope with the shock as much. 

The kid cried awfully, no doubt it went through a lot of pain right now. The blood wouldn’t stop streaming from the two holes in his neck, running down his collarbone and only coming to a halt once it reached the rim of his shirt. 

Piers shut his eyes tightly and tried to focus on anything but the crimson liquid. It was so damn hard, after all he was still a rookie that didn’t know how to control his needs. All he knew was that he wanted to help the kid and not contribute to Chris’ cruel act. 

Chris wiped his mouth clean with the sleeve of his sweater and felt his human form return slowly. He was content, the meal had been really tasty. It’d been awhile since he sucked from a kid, and he didn’t regret it. 

When he saw Piers, he knew immediately what the issue was. He approached him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but to his surprise Piers slapped it away. His partner glared him in the eyes with wrath, his bloodshot eyes sparkled angrily and his nostrils quivered in agitation. 

Chris stumbled back a bit, for a second he was seriously shocked at the sight. The last time he'd seen Piers that enraged, it had been when he’d lost his humanity.  
His heart pumped abnormally fast and his palms began to sweat. It was unnerving to see Piers like this – when he usually was calm and collected – and even more unnerving knowing that he himself had caused this reaction from his partner. 

After some time Piers seemed to calm down, his eyes slowly returned to warm hazel and his body stopped pumping adrenaline through his veins. Still, his chest was heaving a lot and his brows were furrowed in anger. He glared one last time at Chris before he turned his attention back to the crying kid that was sitting in the sand. 

Piers knelt down and pressed the sleeve of his jacket onto the bleeding wound, successfully stopping the blood from emitting. “Shhh... It’s alright kiddo.” He wiped the salty tears away with his other thumb and smiled at him. “What’s your name?”

The boy sniffled a bit, but stopped crying. His intense blue eyes stared at Piers as he whispered quietly, “Emil.” 

“That’s a beautiful name you got, Emil.” Piers brushed a dark strand of hair off his forehead and smiled one last time at the boy, before he turned back to Chris, who was standing awkwardly beside them and rubbed his neck abashedly. 

“What the hell was that for, Chris!?” Piers was still mad at him. Nothing could justify his deeds. 

Chris tried to grin lopsidedly, but failed miserably. “Well, uh... The kid’s alright, that’s all that matters, isn’t it? I had everything under control.” He didn’t know why he was making excuses when he knew that Piers was right in this one. Probably just to feel better himself. 

“Are you serious now? That’s all you have to say about that?” Piers rolled his eyes, annoyed. “Let me get this straight, this is a young boy who can’t defend himself. And you knew that pretty damn well when you attacked him. Look at his neck, does this look like everything’s alright?!”

He pointed at the kid that was still sniffling and trembling. 

“Chris, you’re fucking unbelievable.” Piers took the boy in his arms and lifted him off the ground, making his way over the playground and away from Chris. He cradled the kid in his arms, feeling small tears swell up in his own eyes as well. 

“Piers, wait!” Chris jogged after them. There was no way he would leave this subject unresolved. 

Piers suddenly stopped, almost causing Chris to bump into him, and turned around. “You know what bothers me the most?”

Chris’ heart sank to his feet as he saw his partner so water-eyed and upset. The disappointment was written all over his face, something he had never seen on someone before. Well, maybe on Claire when he’d refused to buy her the balloon on the funfair she’d wanted so eagerly. But that was a whole different situation. 

Piers swallowed. “It bothers me that you don’t show any bit of insight.”

Chris exhaled visibly. His expression was soft and calm, but Piers could see that his head was spinning and storming. 

“Piers.” Chris took a step towards them, causing Piers to turn away slightly, protectively. His heart hurt at the sight, thinking that his partner might consider him as a threat right now. “You know me. I am reckless, yeah, I am cruel. If it wasn’t for you, that kid might not even live right now. I know my lifestyle is questionable, but this is who I am and I can’t change it.”

Piers shook his head in disbelief. “No Chris, you’re wrong. You can change it, you just don’t want to.” 

He realized that the boy had calmed down now, so he lowered him to the ground again. He still kept an eye out for Chris, just in case.

“Piers, step aside.”, Chris demanded. Piers laughed and said he must be crazy for doing that. Chris crossed his arms and watched his boyfriend sincerely. “Don’t you trust me?”

The young vampire hesitated. Of course he trusted him, but he wasn’t so sure of that right now.  
But then eventually, he reluctantly made space for the tall man, knowing he can still stop him should the other consider to make a bold move.

Chris knelt down in front of the young boy; the kid began to shake immediately, still aware of the big man and his actions.  
The brown-haired vampire looked intensely into blue eyes and gripped the kid’s shoulders for steadiness. 

Piers crossed his arms and watched the whole scenario suspiciously. He still hadn’t figured out what Chris’ intention was.  
He saw their pupils change, they turned from very small to very large, almost filling the whole iris with black. He shifted nervously on his feet, not knowing what Chris was doing with the boy. He hoped it wasn’t some kind of brainwashing. 

“Chris?”

But Chris didn’t notice him. He only focused on the kid, not being aware of his surroundings. “You will forget everything that happened. You will not remember us. You will say that the wound was the outcome of playing with your friend. When this is over, you will search for your friend.”, he spoke calmly. 

Piers was about to pat Chris’ shoulder in worry, when the two snapped out of their trance. The boy shook his head in confusion and looked around. Then he ran off into the direction his friend had disappeared to. Chris stood up again.

“What’d you do with him?”, Piers asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I manipulated him.”, Chris casually replied. 

“You what?!” Piers’ jaw dropped a little.

Chris waved it off. “Calm down, it was nothing.”

Piers thought he could explode right there. “No Chris, I will NOT calm down! Somewhere is a point where it is ENOUGH! You can’t keep doing that to people, that’s just not fair!”

Chris didn’t even flinch at his partner’s outburst. “I only took his memories from the last ten minutes, so he won’t go around and tell everyone we’re vampires and sucked his blood.”

Piers shook his head for the hundredth time that day. “No Chris, that you sucked his blood.”

“Piers, I must do that to all of my victims – well, at least the ones that don’t end up dead. It has to be done, otherwise the whole city would know about us soon.” Chris looked him in the eyes. “You’ll have to learn that too. It could get us in real trouble if you don’t.”

Piers scoffed and turned away, offended. He knew Chris was right; it didn’t justify anything, though. Stealing someone’s memory without their will is unreasonable, even if it protects vampires from getting exposed. 

Chris tried to take his hand, but Piers withdrew it quickly. He sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets instead. “Look Piers, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have acted that way, I know it was not right to attack a young kid.”

Piers stared at the ground in front of him, still with his back to his partner. He didn’t want to look at him, didn’t want to talk to him at all. “Just leave me alone now.”

“Will it always be like that from now on?” Chris didn’t back off.

Piers grunted, “What do you mean.”

“Will we always fight whenever I do something you don’t approve of? Because if we will, I know this will happen a lot then. But I don’t know how well you can take it.” 

That seemed to crack a wall, because Piers finally turned around and uncrossed his arms. He stared at Chris, the uneasiness evident in his eyes. “I don’t know either. But I know that I can’t act like it doesn’t bother me and just stand beside you when you have one of your aggressions.”

Chris didn’t reply anything to that. He just stared straight ahead and thought. About his life, his appearance, his whole existence. It was the first time he thought about himself. He knew he wasn’t perfect, was far from it, but it was the first time that it bothered him. He didn’t want Piers to think any less of him now, didn’t want him to think of him as an ass. He was at times, but he was also caring. He hoped that Piers wouldn’t forget that.

After some time of silence, Piers shifted uncomfortably. “Do we even fit together?”, he asked quietly.

Chris perked up from his thoughts. “Wha – What gives you that idea?”

Piers looked down sadly. “I don’t know. It’s just that I don’t want us to argue. I can’t ask for you to change your behaviour just because I don’t like it.”

“Hey, don’t say that.” Chris grabbed his shoulder and forced him to look him in the eyes. “I’m sure we can figure all that out.”

Piers sighed. “I’m not so sure about that.”

“All we need is time.” Chris stroked his partner’s cheek affectionately. “Look, we barely know each other. We still have to learn a lot about each other, but it would be a pity to throw all that away.”

Piers nodded and smiled slightly. Chris took him into his arms, and this time Piers didn’t turn away. He let himself being cradled and enjoyed the other’s warmth and affection. Whatever it was that’d been between them previously, he wasn’t willing to let Chris go. Even if it meant that he had to accept Chris’ negative side.

He leaned up and caught Chris’ lips in a deep kiss. He needed that. It was what kept him from losing his mind. 

When they finished their tender caressing, Chris opened his eyes again and smiled lovingly at his partner. He took his hands and placed a small kiss on them. “I love you, Piers.”

Piers returned the smile warmly. “I love you too, Chris. Whatever it is we have to figure out, I’ll do it as long as you stay by my side.”

“I will, Piers.” Chris looked him sincerely in the eyes. “I need you.”

“I need you too, Chris. We both need each other.”


	11. Practice with consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris, Piers, Leon and Claire meet up to help Piers control his thirst for blood. But it seems that they are not alone…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, why is it so hard to write at times like these. I can't seem to find much time lately, as I quite enjoy the good weather outside. But apparently the story continues, even at my slow pace :D

Chris and Piers had agreed upon training Piers a little to help him control his thirst for blood, because it was best if he learned it as early as possible to prevent any unnecessary deaths. His task was to drink from a human without killing the person in the process.

Piers didn’t feel all too good about this – the shock of his previous attacks still troubled his mind. He was afraid to make any mistakes, especially because he knew what he was capable of.  
Chris reassured him again and again that he will handle this without doubt… Although his words helped to comfort him a bit, they couldn’t shut down his general fear. 

They had met with Leon and Claire in a forest in Raccoon City. It was already late evening to ensure that no people would stumble over their little “training session” and possibly get involved in Piers’ practice. Nobody knew how this would turn out.

Piers shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously, biting on his fingernails meanwhile. 

“Piers, stop worrying so much.” Claire squeezed his shoulder gently. 

“I’m sorry, Claire.” Piers withdrew his hand from his mouth and rolled his shoulders to loosen them up. “I don’t know what’s going on. Usually I’m really calm.”

Claire smiled sympathetically. “It’s normal to feel like that. But you should stop thinking so much about it, it’s no different from the other times where you bit someone.”

Piers resisted rolling his eyes, “Yeah, but the other times it wasn’t intended and nobody expected from me to do well.”

Claire didn’t know what to reply. She wasn’t in the same position as Piers was in, so she could only assume how he felt right now. His worries were comprehensible, after all he didn’t even choose to be in the situation. But that didn’t change the fact that it was better for him and everyone if he did that training.

Leon was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. “Guys, do we even have someone for Piers to use?”  
Said one glared at him for that statement, so he quickly corrected himself, “I mean for Piers to practice.”

That still sounded adverse to the young man’s ears, but he didn’t say anything. There was no need to make a fuss about it; he doubted that there was any possibility to turn this statement positive anyway, due to the fact that it will always be a negative topic.

“We could just grab someone from the streets”, Chris suggested. 

Piers shook his head. “No, I don’t want that. If I have to go through all this, I want permission from the person I’m… practicing with.” He wrinkled his nose at those words. 

Chris laughed in response, “Oh, great idea! And who would actually agree voluntarily for this shit?”

Now Piers rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, a bit annoyed that his partner had made fun of him. Chris was right though, but Piers felt uneasy enough anyway and didn’t need anyone’s jokes right now. 

Leon thought for a second and eventually came up with an idea. “We could ask Sherry! She’s a tough girl and probably wouldn’t mind at all. She owes Claire and me a favor anyway.” When he saw Piers’ questioning look, he explained, “We saved her from a vampire when she was still little.”

Piers nodded, but Claire frowned with discontent. “I don’t know Leon, I really care about her.” She placed her hands on her hips, pondering a bit further. “Besides, I don’t think Jake will like the idea so much.”

This made Piers prick up his ears attentively, “Jake and Sherry are a thing?”

Chris eyed his boyfriend suspiciously. “Yeah, why? Didn’t I tell you?”

Piers looked at him and grinned a bit. “Uh, nope. All you mentioned was Wesker when you talked about Jake.”

Chris grunted, “Well, Jake shouldn’t make a fuss about it. Not everything involves him.” 

Everyone could sense in the way he empathized the words that he didn’t like the werewolf Jake very much.  
Piers smirked and grabbed his hand unnoticeably, giving it a comforting squeeze and discreetly telling him to calm down and not get upset. 

Leon shrugged, ignoring their irrelevant discussion about Jake and focusing on his suggestion again. 

“We could try it with Sherry, at least.” He took his cell phone from his pocket and went back a few steps to gain some space for the call. “I’m gonna call her, let’s see what she says.”

Claire sighed, knowing she got outvoted in this one. 

While Leon talked to Sherry, Piers shuffled the soil and leaves beneath him to a small pile with his feet. “I guess this training might also come in handy when we fight against Wesker.”

Chris scoffed and crossed his arms, watching his partner pile the dirt. “Yeah, if you gonna help us at all. In your current condition are you more endangered than if we do that without you.”

Piers stopped his activity and looked at Chris with a determined but also somewhat pissed expression. “Chris, stop acting like I’m a little girl. I can take care of myself, can’t you see that? You need to have more trust in me.”

Chris ran a hand through his short hair. “Piers, I’m not saying that to be mean. It’s just that I don’t want you to get hurt... I’ve gone through that once, I don’t need it another time.” He took his boyfriend’s hand and stroked his thumb over it. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. I do trust you, with my heart. But I couldn’t bear to lose you now.”

Piers watched the other’s brown eyes deeply, seeing the hurt behind them that Chris always managed to lock away. He knew his partner meant the words, he had gone through a lot in his past and it certainly wasn’t always easy for him or Claire.

He leaned over and embraced him tightly. Even tall broad vampires needed a hug sometimes, and Chris really appreciated it as he wrapped his big arms around the lean man’s frame, resting his chin on Piers’ shoulder. 

Claire smiled as she saw that and decided not to interrupt the couple in their intimate caress. She sat down on a tree stump and waited for Leon to return and tell them what Sherry said.

About five minutes later the blonde man approached them again, a grin planted on his lips. Claire knew immediately why.

“She agreed, didn’t she?”, the redhead asked, sighing.

Leon nodded and sat down beside her. “She said she would be in as long as she wouldn’t get hurt. I told her you could arrange that, Claire.”

“Yeah, leave that to me.” Claire wouldn’t have done this training without making sure to protect the person Piers practiced with. She, as a witch, would have to make a magic spell in order to do so – but that was nothing she wasn’t capable of. 

“What about Jake?”, Piers deliberated, ignoring the small grunt that came from Chris. 

Leon waved it off, “Don’t worry about him, Sherry said she wouldn’t tell him about it. Can’t get mad at us if he doesn’t know.” He winked mischievously and wore his typical Leon-grin.

It was infecting, Piers couldn’t suppress to grin back. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” 

He stuffed one hand in his jeans and scratched the back of his head with the other while looking at his friends on the tree stump. “But uh, I think I leave you guys alone for a while now. I just need to think about a few things, no big deal.” He went back a few steps, pointing behind him with his thumb. “Call me when Sherry’s here.”

He noticed the frown on Leon’s and Chris’ face and the concern on Claire’s features, but ignored them for now. He knew his words sounded more dramatic than he had intended to, but he didn’t feel like explaining anything right now. He just wanted some time alone, to recall some things from the previous days.

As he walked over to a tree for him to sit against, he thought about the events that had taken place recently. It was a week now since he’d met Chris, Leon and Claire. His head had never rested in that time, the thoughts were ever-present and never left him. How could they? It was so much that was going on, too much for him to understand and comprehend.

He slid down the bark and realized that Claire was coming over to him. Apparently she’d been following him, probably out of concern he assumed.

Piers shot her a warm smile and patted the spot beside him for her to join him on the ground against the tree. Claire returned the smile appreciatively and sat down as Piers had motioned. 

She brushed a few red strands of hair out of her face and looked at her friend. “What are you on about?”, she asked. 

He shrugged nonchalantly, “Just thinking about everything that happened the past days. Nothing special.”

She nodded and rested her head on her knees – which had been pulled up to her torso –, still watching Piers with her calm blue eyes. The expression on her face gave away her worries about the young man.  
She studied his features; even in the already half-darkness she could see that he looked exhausted and weary, his hazel eyes missed their usual sparkle and his skin was a bit pale compared to his otherwise tanned features. She didn’t know why he was so worn out, she didn’t know much about everything he went through the previous days. But she could tell it had been a lot.

“Piers, are you sure you are okay? You don’t look too well, if I may say that.” 

He still smiled at her despite how tired he looked like. He shook his head and chuckled a bit to himself. “I’m good Claire, don’t worry about me. Although it was a lot that kept me running the past days, it was nothing I couldn’t handle. Well, not with Chris at my side, at least.” 

Claire caught the small smile that quickly ghosted across Piers’ face, even though he tried not to show it. It made her smile as well. 

“You are pretty happy with my brother, aren’t you?”, she asked.

Piers felt the blush that crept on his cheeks upon her question. There was no reason to deny it, he was sure she already knew the answer according to her many smiles and the affectionate talk of him and Chris earlier that she got to witness. 

So he settled with the easiest solution: just telling her the truth. 

“Yeah. Actually, I am pretty happy with your brother. Even though he doesn’t always make the right decisions, he has a big heart. And that is really intriguing.”

“I think you got a point there.”, Claire smiled.

“Plus, I’m really glad that I met you guys… I mean you and Leon. It’s good to know I have backup in this whole crazy time.” Piers grinned and winked at her.

She just laughed and shook her head, “Yeah Piers, me too.”

Their conversation fell silent again. Piers seemed to be far away with his thoughts as he watched a squirrel climb over a branch of a chestnut tree in the distance. Claire sighed and decided to take his hand, just to comfort him. He jumped a little at her sudden touch, but didn’t withdraw his hand. 

She ran her thumb over it and gave him an empathetic look. “Piers, don’t worry so much. I know it must be hard for you right now, but you’ll get used to it after some time. Every vampire did. Trust me, it’s not so bad once you accept it.”

He sighed and ran his other hand through his flawless hair. “I’m not so concerned about my acceptance, actually.”

She blinked at that statement, “Whose then?”

“Ugh, my parents.” Piers groaned and let his head fall back against the tree. “I wonder how they’ll react when they find out what I am now.”

Claire pulled her hand back and thought for a second. “Well, I assume they’ll be shocked for a moment, but that’s normal. They won’t doom you. After all, you’re their son and they love you.”

Piers’ head fell slowly to the side to frown at the redhead. “Claire, you don’t know my parents. They’re super strict, always expect the best from me. It was hard enough to confess that I play for both teams, women and men. They didn’t take it too well. Dad even insulted me as a shame for the family.”, he scoffed.

Claire crossed her arms and shook her head in disbelief. “Well, that certainly isn’t very nice of them. Parents should support you, no matter what you believe in or who you love.” She sighed, “But at least you still have parents.”

Piers flinched and shot her a grieved look, “Oh Claire, I’m so sorry… I forgot about you and your worries as well. Shit, that was insensitive…”

She smiled at him. “No Piers, it’s alright. I still miss them sometimes, but I’ve come to terms with it and can handle the loss a lot better now than a few years ago.”

He nodded and they both turned their faces away from each other again. “And how’s Chris with this? He doesn’t tell me much.”

Claire sighed, “Well, he’s more focused on revenge. Sometimes I can see that sad look in his eyes, but most of the time he just thinks about putting Wesker to hell.”

“Yeah… I mean, that won’t bring your parents back, but at least Wesker will get what he deserves.”

Claire wanted to respond, but then spotted a bulky figure that came toward them, no doubt Chris’ silhouette. Instead, she just nodded and pointed to the direction the man was coming from, “Look, my brother’s coming.”

Chris approached them with a frown. “Is everything alright with you two? I got a bit worried when you disappeared earlier and didn’t come back.”

Claire got up and patted her brother’s shoulder, smiling reassuringly at him. “Nah, don’t worry Chris. We’re fine, just needed to talk a bit.” 

The frown on his face intensified, but he didn’t say anything. He just hugged her quickly and watched her walk back to Leon. The vampire knelt down in front of Piers and smiled at his lover, squeezing his shoulder caringly. “Hey babe, Sherry’s there. She can’t wait to meet you.”

Piers returned the smile and nodded his comprehension. He let himself be kissed by Chris, and gladly took his partner’s hand to get up as well. When standing, he straightened his clothes by brushing over it with his hands and rolled his shoulders to release the knots in them. “Alright, here goes nothing.”

Chris gave his hand a comforting squeeze as they made their way back to the others. Piers could spot Sherry immediately between Leon and Claire, not finding it difficult to do so. She was a short girl with light blonde hair – and even without having talked to her yet, he could already tell she was quirky and communicative from the way she gestured to his friends. It put a small smile on his full lips.

The rustling of dry leaves made the three aware of Chris’ and Piers’ presence, causing them to turn around from their conversation and greeting them.

Piers was a bit surprised at the hug he received from Sherry, after all she didn’t even know him. But it wasn’t uncomfortable; he just chuckled and hugged her back, leaning down to do so. When they parted again, she beamed up at him with her light blue eyes and took both of his hands, squeezing them.

“Well Piers, it’s so nice to meet you! Claire has already told me a lot about you.”

Piers shot Claire a surprised look that implied the question What did you tell her?, but preferred to ignore it and instead smiled back at Sherry. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

She propped her hands on her hips and grinned at Piers, “Sooo… Apparently you need my help, huh?”

A slight blush crept on his cheeks as he scratched his head, chuckling a bit. “Uh, yeah… Apparently I do.”

Sherry found this reaction amusing and laughed, shaking her head as she did so. “Well don’t you worry Piers, I got you. I’m glad to help some old friends.” She winked at Leon and Claire as she said that.

Chris patted Leon’s shoulder and nodded at his friend, “I suggest you take care of the training, with you being the most experienced vampire in terms of blood control.”

“Sure thing, Chris.” Leon turned to Piers and looked at him with a serious expression and determined eyes, “The most important thing is that you are resolute and certain that you want to refuse the blood. If you mentally don’t support this with all your heart, your body won’t obey your orders.”

Piers nodded. “Yeah Leon, I understand. I’m a hundred percent sure I don’t want to drink blood.”

“Good, the mindset is good. Now, look at Sherry.” Leon pointed to the blonde girl, “She is your victim. She is the one you’ll be drinking of. She is innocent and unaware of your condition.”

Sherry wanted to imply that she’s not, but Leon shushed her and continued. 

“You have to persuade yourself that drinking blood from her is cruel and gruesome.”

Piers scoffed, “I don’t have to persuade myself, I already know that.”

Chris chuckled and crossed his arms, “Well, once you’re in the situation your senses will tell you otherwise.”

Piers groaned and decided not to answer, instead coming back to the subject. He shot Sherry another insecure look as he asked, “And you are sure you’re okay with all this?”

She waved it off. “Yeah, as long as Claire makes sure that nothing happens to me, I’m fine with that.”

Claire asked if she should already begin with the spell, whereupon Leon nodded, giving her the permission to do so.  
The redhead took Sherry’s petite hands and closed her eyes, saying a magic spell that put a mysterious glow around them. The men went back a few steps, unsure of what she was actually doing with the woman. 

When Claire was done, the glow slowly dissipated and they opened their eyes again. Sherry didn’t look any different from before, much to their relief.

“What did you do with her?”, Chris asked skeptically. 

Claire sat down on the tree stump, exhausted from the spell that shall protect the girl. “Sherry’s incapable of dying now, for a short period of time. Furthermore, she won’t feel any pain and wounds will start to heal immediately after Piers is done.”

Leon was impressed. “So… it’s like the ultimate precaution?”

Claire nodded as she breathed heavily. “But… It requires a lot of strength, hence I can’t use it very often.”

Chris was concerned at his sister’s current condition, leading him to sit down beside her and taking her hand. “Are you okay, Claire? Was it too much for you?”

She smiled and shook her head, appreciative of her brother’s worries. “I’m fine Chris, I just need a few minutes. You can go on with your training, the spell on Sherry won’t last too long.” 

He sighed and stood up reluctantly, still not reassured, but knowing she was right. He shot her one last look before he turned to Piers, squeezing his shoulder. Leaning over to his ear, he whispered, “Are you ready?”

A shudder came down Piers’ spine at those whispered words, but he shrugged it off to be fully concentrated on his task. He closed his hazel eyes as he took deep breaths, nodding finally, “Yeah. I’m ready.”

Chris gave his shoulder a last squeeze and withdrew his hand, moving aside to give Leon, Piers and Sherry their space to work. 

Leon walked over to Sherry and leaned down, biting gently in her neck and leaving two small holes from which the dark blood already started oozing out. Sherry gave no whimper or cry of pain, she stood calm and firm as she let Leon do his work. The blonde man gave Claire credit for her good job. 

Piers wasn’t in such a good condition though, for him it was really hard to withstand the urge to claim his victim. He knew it was happening from the way his body changed, he could feel his fangs grow and hear the blood rushing through his veins, could see the quivering neck of Sherry and the crimson liquid that ran out of it. He was like a wild animal, bloodthirsty and unstoppable once it found its prey. 

As the vampire made a move to jump at Sherry, Chris was quickly at his side to catch his arm, pulling him back and away from the blonde girl. He wrapped his arms around Piers’ upper body, effectively holding him in a tight grip. But he had to admit, Piers sure knew how to push his limits. Even the strong vampire Chris had to struggle to clutch the young man in his arms. 

Piers snarled and lashed out, wanting nothing more than the fresh blood from Sherry’s neck. He didn’t like it in the slightest that he was restrained from his needs, doing everything possible to get free and to the delicious source. 

“Piers, concentrate!” Leon made his way over to the struggling couple, looking deeply in the young vampire’s red eyes. “Concentrate on your breathing, not on the blood. Close your eyes and imagine a beautiful place you’d want to be right now.”

Piers squirmed and roared, snapping, “And how could that help, exactly?!” He glared the blonde man straight into blue eyes, his own orbs sparkling with infuriation. 

Although Leon was a vampire for a long time now, sometimes he was still shocked at how people can change once they turn into one. He knew Piers wasn’t willingly like this (hence the training right now), and he surely hated to be a monster full of rage and cruelty when he usually was a really caring man. Leon knew they had to get Piers into control, it was the least they owed him after everything the man had been through.

“Piers, trust me in this. It will distract you from the urge to go for Sherry’s blood.” Leon spoke calmly and with firmness, like a mother would do to her young child. 

… Except Leon wasn’t a mother and Piers wasn’t a young child. The words reached the vampire’s ears, but not his brain. It was like talking to a wall, it just had no avail. 

Leon was getting frustrated, he wouldn’t have thought it would be this difficult with Piers. He shot Chris a look that implied the demand Do something.

Chris looked back, saying Why me? You are the one in charge here.

Leon rolled his eyes and Chris shrugged. Meanwhile Piers took the opportunity to free himself from his lover’s grasp while both men were distracted with their silent conversation, jumping forward with such force that had Chris stumbling backwards. 

“Hey, wh –“ Chris wanted to go after Piers and hold him back a second time, but Leon stopped him by grasping his arm. “Leon, let me –“

“No Chris, don’t.” The blonde vampire looked him in the eyes with such determination that had Chris sighing and obeying. “We should wait and see what he does.”

Turning their attention to Piers and Sherry, they could see how the man was relentlessly drinking blood from the woman’s neck, the aggressive sound of slurping liquid was heard. Crimson colored blood splashed from Sherry’s neck, covering her collarbone and top as well as Piers’ chin and sweater in dark red fluids.

Claire went pale on her trunk, feeling the urge to throw up at the sight of her girl being assaulted by her brother’s boyfriend.

Leon tore at his blonde hair in despair, “Piers, focus! Remember, YOU DON’T WANT THIS!”

All Piers could hear was the gurgling of blood and Sherry’s small puffs of breath – but somewhere between those sounds were Leon’s words, stirring something inside his head that made it hard to focus on sucking out of Sherry’s neck. He wanted to drink more, as much as he possibly could, but the words were stuck. He thought about the first day he’d met Chris, how he was being assaulted by the older man while he laid helplessly on the ground. He thought about all the innocent people he’d killed when he was a ripper and in no right mind. About the guilt he’d felt and the oath he’d made to himself to never do that again. About the young boy he’d saved from Chris. About Sherry, who had welcomed him so warmly and consented to help. 

He remembered Leon’s words: he has to be fully certain that he wants to refuse the blood, otherwise his body won’t obey.

You don’t want to drink blood… You don’t want to drink blood… You don’t want to drink blood…

He repeated the words as if they were a mantra, again and again, clenching his eyes tightly shut as he hovered over Sherry’s neck, his fangs still sunk in the bloody holes but not drinking from them. The pulsing in his veins quickened, urging him to keep drinking, but his will was stronger, you don’t want to drink blood…

Finally he managed to get lose from Sherry, gasping for air as he stumbled back. His chest heaved from the hard breathing, his head spun from the overload of senses that assaulted him and his palms sweated from the shock. 

Chris was instantly at his side to catch him in his arms before Piers fell over from exhaustion, brushing a few sweaty brown hairs off his forehead.

Leon nodded satisfied, saying he did good for a start. “Plus, you wouldn’t have killed her, even without Claire’s spell. She didn’t lose enough blood for that to happen.”

Piers sighed with relief, seeing how the wound on her neck started to heal already. The girl smiled at him, which he gladly returned. Cuddling his head in the nape of Chris’ neck, he smirked slightly to himself. He was proud that he had managed to resist his strongest need, even though it didn’t seem like he could do it at first. In the aftermath he was often a little frightened of himself, not wanting to accept what he was capable of. But once he had learned how to fully control his senses, he believed that he wouldn’t even be so different from how he had been before.

Leon brought him back from his thoughts as he patted his shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. “Piers, you’re not finished yet. Remember, you gotta know how to manipulate your victims.”

Piers groaned and wriggled himself out of Chris’ embrace. “Yeah… I remember. Let’s get this over with.”

Leon walked over to Sherry with him, explaining the necessary steps to fulfill the manipulation. “The most important thing is to keep eye contact for the entire time. You have to make sure your opponent is drawn to you and concentrated on your voice. You can tell your victim is ready to follow your words when their pupils change size permanently. This is your sign to start speaking. Understood?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”, Piers nodded. He did as he was told and positioned himself right in front of Sherry, focusing on her bright blue eyes and staring deeply into them. He was just about to speak when he heard something rustle behind her, catching sight of a black shadow that appeared from behind a thick tree.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he thought quickly, coming up with the conclusion of pushing her aside and getting tackled to the ground from the unknown person in the process.

“Gaahh..!” 

“Piers!”, Chris shouted his name, “Shit!”

Piers was unable to move, the other person had pinned him down and didn’t allow him to move any limb. Though he didn’t know who was restraining him, he was sure it was a man judging from the weight on his back.

“Get off! Bastard!”, he cursed under gritted teeth, still trying to wrest out from beneath the person. On normal circumstances he might’ve succeeded, but right now he was so exhausted and tired from everything that he’d been through. 

Smirking, the guy on his back tightened his grip on his wrists, causing Piers to groan in pain. “Don’t you remember me, puppy?”

Piers stopped his attempts cold in his tracks, being frozen for a short second as he recognized the voice. “Jake!”

“Oh, didn’t know you were this smart! Bulls-eye.” Jake’s smirk vanished and a cold glare took over his hard features. 

As the waves of shock finished rolling over Sherry, she made her way over to them, trying to help Piers from her aggressive boyfriend. “Jake, what are you doing?!”

Jake growled, leaning down to Piers and snarling in his ear, “You sucked blood from my girlfriend. I’m not going easy with this, you know.”

Piers growled back, “I didn’t want this either, but it was necessa-aahh…!” The last word trailed into a cry of agony as his right arm was twisted around painfully, breaking a bone in the process. Jake seemed to enjoy the torture as his grin widened from the action. 

Chris’ face turned red from anger, his knuckles clenched tight as he stamped over to them, ready to rip Jake’s head off his shoulders. “You goddamn son of a bitch, Imma show you what’s necessary to –!”

He wasn’t able to finish his sentence either as a second figure appeared from the shadows, gripping Chris’ neck firmly and shoving him back a few meters, causing the tall vampire to stumble. “What the…!”

Claire was with him in an instant, giving him support while he caught his balance. Chris rubbed a hand over his throbbing neck, still feeling the rough grip from his opponent. He looked at the man who had pushed him back, heart sinking to his feet, breath caught in his throat as he recognized him. “Wesker!”

The tall man with dark sunglasses and gelled blonde hair chuckled deviously as he interlaced his gloved hands behind his back. “Christopher. Long time no see.”

Chris roared angrily and attempted to jump at the other man, but stopped immediately when he saw Wesker’s cold stare (even with the sunglasses Chris could tell the psychopath was serious). 

“Oh Christopher, I would not try to make such a predictable move.” He nodded over to Piers who was still restrained by his son, but at least the young vampire was standing now and not pinned to the ground anymore. “Remember, we got your precious toy here.”

“He’s… not a toy!!” Chris shouted, enraged. His hands sweated from how hard he was clenching them, but he realized the seriousness of the situation and Wesker’s upper hand in this. Even though he really wanted to free Piers from them, he didn’t want to put him in danger by doing something reckless, so he decided to wait and see for now. 

Sherry was at the verge of tears now. “Jake! Why are you doing this?”

Jake smirked maliciously, “Because I have fun seeing Chris suffer.” To emphasize his point, he tightened his grip on Piers’ arms, causing his captive to cry out in pain.

“Why?” Claire wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her jacket, “Wesker already took our parents, isn’t that enough suffering?”

Leon laid an arm around her and glared at Jake and Wesker with a hard expression. “Yeah, she’s right – Piers has nothing to do with this!”

Wesker laughed viciously and crossed his arms as he shook his head, unimpressed. “Oh really, as if anyone cares about him.” 

He bent over to punch Piers in the guts with a forceful strike, just to show everyone who was in charge here. As a result Piers turned over to empty his stomach from the action, spitting the contents in front of his feet. The majority of it contained blood however, giving the puddle a dark red coloring. Wesker wrinkled his nose and pulled the man up at the collar, motioning Jake to hold on to him tighter.

Chris gritted his teeth and took a step closer, ignoring the warning glare that crossed Wesker’s cold features. “Shut the fuck up! As if you know anything, you fucking bastard!”

Wesker raised his eyebrows at those words, switching his gaze between Chris and Piers, whose head hang down from exhaustion and tiredness. He caught the connection between them, realizing Chris cared a lot more about the other man than he had thought. That put a small malicious smile on his thin lips, having gotten to know another opportunity to make Redfield suffer. “That sounds interesting indeed. Jake!”

Jake looked up from boring his sharp fingers into Piers’ neck, always at attention when his father called him. “Yes, dad?”

“We’re leaving.”

“Yes, dad.” Jake pushed Piers forward, causing the young vampire to stumble because of the suddenness. 

“Let me go, goddamnit…” Piers wanted to shout at Jake, yell at him, but he just couldn’t. Everything hurt, his right arm was broken, his stomach burned from Wesker’s punch and his neck was sore from the firm grip. He wanted to fight though, wasn’t willing to go with them voluntarily. He knew his friends got his back, they would do something to save him in a few moments. 

Jake pushed him further, until they stood right in front of Wesker. The blonde man cupped Piers’ chin that was still coated in dry and fresh blood and looked directly into warm hazel orbs. Piers felt uneasy under the hard stare, as he wasn’t able to see the other’s eyes due to the dark sunglasses. Still, he glared back to show his resistance. 

A sadistic smirk crept on Wesker’s thin lips, he enjoyed this little game far too much. Running his gloved hand through the back of Piers’ smooth hair, he leaned over to his ear and whispered, “We’re taking you with us. And I don’t want to hear any complaints, you are now my special guest.”

Piers felt sick from those words and hoped the others would do something already. He didn’t know what would await him if they didn’t manage to save him from the two maniacs. 

Chris couldn’t hear what Wesker had said to his partner, but he wasn’t willing to just stand there and not help Piers.

He ran over to them, ignoring the protests from Leon, Claire and Sherry, and gripped Jake’s shoulder with enough force to pull him away from Piers, sending them stumbling to the ground. They wrestled for dominance, but not for long as Chris quickly pinned him to the ground. Not only because he was far more muscled, but also because he had the advantage of being a vampire against a werewolf. And he was angry. God, what was he angry. 

“Do not EVER touch him again!”, he shouted, punching Jake in the face.

“Redfield, you motherfucker! Should’ve sent you to hell when I had the chance…!”, Jake yelled under gritted teeth, still trying to fight back. “And your damn boyfriend too!”

Suddenly a loud scream bellowed into the dark night, causing everyone to jerk in shock. Chris turned his head around, knowing it was Piers who had screamed like that. He caught sight of Wesker holding his partner firmly with one arm, a thick sharp branch clasped in the other hand, stabbing it into Piers’ chest. Chris was frozen, Piers was only one move away from being sent to the graves. 

Wesker was calm, he knew exactly what he was doing. Precise movements, exactly calculated for the branch to scratch at Piers’ heart enough to portray his seriousness, but not enough to kill the man in the process. If they followed his orders, that is. 

“Christopher, you may want to let go of my son, unless you have no problem with me ramming this piece of wood into your boyfriend’s heart.”

A small bead of sweat ran down Chris’ temple as his clenched fist shook from the tension, his brows twitching fiercely. 

“Chris…!”, Wesker growled, tightening his grip on the branch, sending it a bit deeper into the vampire’s chest. Piers hissed in pain, grasping his nimble fingers around Wesker’s hand and trying to keep the wooden stick away from his pumping heart. 

Chris wanted to kill the werewolf so badly, just to get rid of his stupid face already. But Piers’ life mattered way more, so he finally released his grip from around Jake’s collar and stood up, kicking him into the ribs one last time. “Wouldn’t be so tough without your dad, huh?!”

Jake picked himself up from the hard ground and stumbled over to his father and the still captured Piers, sending Chris one last hateful look, “This ain’t over, Redfield!”

And with that they were gone, with no trace left of them. They’d vanished, and they’d taken Piers with them. Chris let out a frustrated yell as he kicked a nearby tree, running a hand through his short hair.

“Fuck!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess the next chapter will be quite interesting. I'm curious about how the story will develop from here on, I haven't thought about the upcoming plot yet.
> 
> Stay safe everyone and have a great week :)


	12. Down, but not out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piers finds himself in an unfamiliar environment when he wakes up. Things don't go too well, and it only seems to worsens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as you know, the intensity of my effort in writing this has varied a lot recently, but luckily I managed to find some time since school's not keeping me so busy right now (I wish it stayed like this for a while *-*)
> 
> Also, Clairebearsmoothie07 kinda gave me some inspiration with her fic "Hybrids of Desire" (I suggest to take a look if you like this supernatural universe). My thanks to her, haha!

He didn’t know where he was brought to. Jake had knocked him unconscious once they were out of sight, he didn’t have much of a chance to react in his critical condition. 

Piers opened his eyes slowly, still not capable of opening them fully, trying to wrap his head around the events that took place right now. It seemed that he was being carried over a shoulder, as he felt the rocking of someone’s movements. When he tried to twist his arms, he quickly realized that he wasn’t able to – a thick rope was tied around his arms as well as his ankles, denying him any attempts to move around. 

He tried not to turn his head around too obviously, because he assumed that his carrier would feel it whenever he moved, hence making him aware of his consciousness. But still, he wanted to know where he was – he just couldn’t see much due to the fact that his sight was blurred and his eyes refused to open entirely. 

However from his judgment they were still in a forest as he could hear them walking on dry leaves and cracking branches, though he didn’t know if it was still the same forest he got abducted in. 

Deciding it made more sense to bank on his ears instead of his eyes, he concentrated on everything he could hear, picking up on a small conversation between Wesker and Jake. Even though they didn’t say much, he noticed quickly that Wesker didn’t really like his son, or at least didn’t care much about him. 

“We are almost there.” Wesker said in his gruff voice, revealing not more information than necessary. 

“Yes, dad.” Jake replied, as reticent and obedient as Piers had already observed.

Not long after, Piers could hear a beeping sound that he couldn’t place, followed by Wesker’s demand to let them in. A slightly distorted voice answered him by saying they required the code to let them enter. Piers could tell Wesker was getting agitated by that statement as he replied to the voice (which by now Piers was sure came from an intercom) in a not so calm and friendly tone that if they wouldn’t open the door in the next ten seconds, they would lose more than just their job. The distorted voice stammered an apology and immediately took care of the closed gate, effectively managing to open it with a buzzing sound. Electronic system, Piers thought. 

They continued their way through the opened gate and after a few steps the buzzing sound appeared again, giving Wesker the permission to press down a door handle, allowing them access to a building. The rustling sound of walking on leaves silenced and instead dull steps could be heard. Piers looked down and witnessed a white and clear floor, indicating something sterile like a hospital. His stomach turned a bit at the very obvious fact that he was brought to a place he didn’t know the location of, didn’t know what would await him and didn’t know how to get away from. 

Wesker’s demanding voice cut though the silence again, and Piers really wished there was a way for him to shut it off since he already had enough of his dictatorship. 

“Jake, get him away.”

“Where to?”

“Room number 31. I’ll stop by later.”

Jake nodded, which obviously couldn’t be seen by Piers, and started moving again. He was going down a stairway now, the footsteps crunching and dull, indicating the stairs were made of cement and probably covered with a thin layer of sand. The air was thick and shrouded with dust, leaving Piers to assume they were heading to a basement.

The carried vampire let his head down again, not bothering to catch sight of his surroundings as the position on Jake’s shoulder was really beginning to ache. After all, everything still hurt from their ambush in the woods and his body hadn’t gotten time to recover since. He still had the nasty taste of blood and vomit in his mouth and surely some bruises on his abdomen from Wesker’s punch along with the healing wound of the sharp branch that had been pressed into his chest. 

Not that Jake cared, though. He didn’t even try to make the journey comfortable for his captive, didn’t notice how his shoulder pressed into Piers’ belly and how the vampire’s head bumped against his broad back with every step he took. 

But after turning a few corridors and passing a lot of locked rooms, it seemed that they have reached room number 31 when Jake unlocked the door and opened it with an unpleasant creaky noise that caused Piers’ head to spin even more. 

“We’re there.” Jake threw him with little consideration onto a hard bed that stood in the corner of the small room. 

Piers groaned as he landed on the uncomfortable bed, letting Jake carelessly untie the ropes from around his wrists and ankles. “You really don’t have to treat me so graciously,” he said with a noticeable roll of his eyes.

“Graciously my ass,” Jake scoffed and spit on the dirty floor in front of him. “Besides, you’re an asshole and don’t deserve the luxury of a five star treatment.”

“Yeah, sure.” Piers slowly sat up on the hard bed and suppressed a small grunt of pain, caused by his many wounds and inner soreness. “Because you could afford anything above basement offers...”

“What did you just say?” Jake’s eyes flashed quickly with surprise and his eyebrows arched upward, showing how brave it had been to utter such a statement, and how dangerous it was for Piers if he didn’t keep his mouth shut.

“Oh, nothing.” Piers didn’t grin or smile sardonically like Jake would’ve probably done in his situation, instead he kept the serious stare and glared right back at his opponent. He definitely wasn’t going to get intimidated by the werewolf, he never backed down and he was going to fight back if he had to. He wasn’t willing to get oppressed either, thus he wouldn’t allow Jake to forbid him his voice. 

“Okay, listen here pup.” Jake pushed himself off the grey concrete wall and took a step closer to his captive on the bed. “I don’t like your presence either. And if you ask me, I wouldn’t hesitate a second to put a nice piece of wood into your chest and end your life right here.”

Piers scoffed and looked down for a short second before he returned his gaze on the man in front of him. “And what stops you from doing so?”

Jake couldn’t suppress the wide grin as he knelt down to stare directly into warm hazel eyes. “Well, my dad seems to have other plans with you.”

“What plans?” Piers started to get really annoyed by that conversation and the stupid grin on the other’s face, but he supposed he could only benefit if he asked that question. He doubted to get a useful answer from him, though. 

Like he expected, Jake only laughed and shook his head. “Man, even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. But you shouldn’t expect any good, I tell you that much. Hahaha.” He got to his feet again and slowly went back to the door while never leaving Piers with his eyes. “Have fun waiting for him in this hellhole.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Piers heard how Jake closed the door and lied back down on the uncomfortable bed. It didn’t even have any sheets or at least a pillow, just the hard mattress you could’ve technically spared from how useful it was compared to the bare metal bunk. It fit to the general image of the sparsely furnished room, only a dim light bulb hang loosely from the ceiling and a filthy sink was placed on the opposite wall as well as a rusty toilet that Piers only wanted to use when really necessary. It definitely wasn’t a room you like to be in, but Piers thought it could be worse. At least they didn’t chain him in some sort of cage or anything similar, he believed it wouldn’t even be farfetched if he thought about their odd mentality. 

Still, he didn’t know for how long they will keep him there, what they had in store for him, where he was precisely and how he might be able to flight. He wasn’t in the best condition for an escape right now, but he never knew if there will be a second chance at all. He was almost certain that Chris, Leon and Claire would try to get him out of there, but he couldn’t expect anything soon. They surely needed some time to figure out where he was brought to, if they managed at all.

But Piers wasn’t someone to give up so easily, so he forced himself to get up and examine the room a bit further, albeit a bit unsteady on his feet. His head was spinning and needed some rest, but he didn’t want to lie down without checking his possibilities first. 

The door was made of solid steel and didn’t move a millimeter when he shoved his weight against it. Only when he gave the knob a firm jolt did it creak and clang deafeningly, however to no useful avail. He then decided to ignore the door, it was merely a dead end that would possibly only result in waking somebody and calling attention to his cell. 

But the rest of the room turned out to be as useless as the steel door. Even though the room was incredibly dirty and needed a radical clean-up, there were no fissures or flaws anywhere. They made sure to fix any holes in the walls to prevent anybody from daring an escape.

Piers sighed. He knew his chances had been low, but he’d still hoped to find anything that might’ve helped him. Besides, he was not a normal guy anymore, he was a vampire that had more strength and force than an average person. That couldn’t help him in his current situation, but who knows if it might come in handy.

He laid back on the bed and closed his tired eyes. He deserved a bit rest and his body needed it thoroughly. He curled himself into a fetal position and imagined to be embraced by Chris’ comforting arms right now, and it helped him to relax and finally fall into some kind of light slumber.

…………………..

“Chris, you need to calm down.” Leon sat on the tree stump and watched his friend pace around nervously. 

Chris tore his hand through his short hair, not being able to think straight. His thoughts revolved around Wesker and Piers of course, about the ambush, their getaway and how they might be able to get him back. “How could we let that happen? I had Jake! We should’ve been able to exchange them.”

Claire looked at her brother in worry. “Chris, it won’t get us anywhere if we’re going crazy about it.”

“It’s my fault.” 

Leon looked up at his friend and raised an eyebrow. “Why would it be your fault? You did nothing wrong.”

Chris finally stopped pacing around and shot him a severe look. “Because I forced him to do this vampire training. Shit, if I wouldn’t have done that, nothing would’ve happened to him.”

Sherry shook her head as she crossed her slender arms over her chest. She had been quiet and let the others carry the conversation (mainly because it was her boyfriend who had kidnapped Piers), but now she felt the urge to say something.

“Chris, stop talking nonsense. Firstly, you couldn’t know that they were waiting here for us. And secondly, if they wouldn’t have come tonight to get him, they would’ve come sooner or later anyway.”

That stirred something in Claire; she knew the whole time there was something that didn’t fit into the whole picture. “But what do they want from Piers? He’s only a vampire, they don’t get much value out of him.”

Chris’ face darkened several shades upon thinking about it. “Wesker uses him as leverage against me. He probably knows that Piers and I have an emotional connection and that I wouldn’t do anything against him that could bring Piers in danger. That sick bastard just wants to put me in my place.”

Claire exhaled visibly. “At least he can’t kill him, then. He needs him alive.”

Leon shook his head. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Wesker would do anything that harms Chris and he definitely wouldn’t hesitate to put Piers down if it meant emotional suffering for Chris.”

Sherry went pale and took a seat on the tree stump as well. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to let that happen to any of you.”

Claire put one arm around her shoulders in a comforting gesture and took the girl’s hand in hers. “Sherry, you’re not to blame. You can’t control Jake’s actions. Just because he is your boyfriend, does that not mean it’s your fault.”

“It’s just that I would’ve never expected him to be this barbaric, you know? He’s always so kind to me, and it really hurts to see him like this.” she sniffled.

“He’s under the influence of his father, Sherry. I bet he doesn’t have much of a choice, actually. Everyone would turn crazy if their father was a psychopath and wants them to take part in his freaky plans.” Leon tried to soothe her.

“But why does Wesker hate you so much, Chris?” Sherry asked.

Chris shook his head. “It’s not that he hates me, actually. It’s more the other way around. I hate him because he killed our parents and he has fun making me suffer since then. I believe he sees a threat in me because I’m trying to dethrone him.”

Claire rolled her eyes. “This is all complete bullshit. Who is the boss of Raccoon City? There are far more important things than your silly battle.”

“Maybe,” Chris shrugged, “But if Wesker keeps all the vampires and werewolves under his command, nobody would benefit from that. You never know what he plans. In one moment he’s completely calm and nobody hears anything from him, and in the next moment he wipes out the entire population of Raccoon City. It’s better if someone finally puts a stop to his reign.”

Leon frowned, “I doubt that you can do this, Chris.”

Chris grinned for a short second, finally letting his emotions show again. “Maybe not alone. But if we all work together, I’m sure we can achieve it.”

“I guess we can. But right now we should focus on getting Piers back, first.” Claire added.

Chris nodded, “That would probably be the best.”

“Don’t worry,” Leon said, “Piers is a tough guy. He’ll be fine.”

“Still, we shouldn’t waste any more time. Better get to work and find out where they took him.”

…………………..

Piers didn’t know how much time had passed since he was brought to his prison cell. He laid there, arms crossed beneath his head, and stared at the ceiling. He couldn’t manage to sleep more than one hour – too uncomfortable and too much pain. He was glad that the headache had eased a little bit, but the bruises on his stomach still hurt along with the throbbing in his throat. The bloody hole in his chest, where the branch had scraped at his heart, was already sealed and only a slight pounding remained. 

Piers was pale and exhausted, he was hungry and thirsty. The faucet on the sink wouldn’t move a millimeter, it was too rusted and didn’t allow him any drop of water.  
Visibly under his eyes were dark rings due to lack of sleep, adding to his weary look and appearance. His hair was tousled and stood in all directions, but he couldn’t care less at the moment. He just wondered when Wesker would finally show up; it had been approximately five hours since Jake left him.

Eventually a key in the lock could be heard and Piers opened his dozing eyes, turning his head to the side to be able to see who was entering the small room. Of course, it was no other than Wesker. Piers’ expression darkened when he saw the man approaching him, not bothering to get up or move a muscle for him.

Wesker smirked deviously and interlaced his fingers behind his back while taking a look at the young man who couldn’t look any worse. “I see you have already settled in well.”

Piers scoffed and turned his head to the ceiling again. This psychopath was not worth a real answer that cost him valuable energy.

“Tell me, my precious vampire. How are you feeling?”

Piers rolled his eyes and decided to change his primary attitude to ignore the man, instead he sat up and frowned at him with annoyance. “Tell me, how do I look like?”

Wesker stroked through Piers’ messy hair with one gloved hand, earning a slight growl from him in response. “Oh, you are certainly not in the position to ask questions. So, let me ask you again: How are you feeling?”

Piers felt the urge to spit him in his arrogant face, but figured it wouldn’t be the best decision to piss him off already, so he settled with an honest answer. “Well; I am thirsty, hungry, tired, sore and lonely. Everything aches, the bed is uncomfortable as hell and this old sink doesn’t leave a single drop of water. My head won’t stop spinning, my throat keeps throbbing and my bruises hurt whenever I move a muscle. So, to answer your question: I feel great.”

Wesker only chuckled and ignored the mad sparkling in Piers’ eyes. “Don’t worry my dear, you’ll soon feel better. For now, I want you to follow me.”

Piers stood up, face to face with Wesker now, asking “And if I don’t want to follow you?”, making it obvious he wasn’t someone to boss around. Piers knew it was risky to speak with him like this, but he couldn’t restrain himself. He was annoyed, pissed off and so weary. He really wasn’t in the mood for Wesker’s little games.

Wesker’s eyes sparkled viciously under the dark lenses as he surveyed Piers’ disobedient expression. He took one step closer, the tips of their noses almost touching, expecting Piers to back off or maybe even tremble under the hard stare – except that he didn’t. And Wesker didn’t like it in the slightest that his captive wasn’t respecting him and his demands.

“I am going to tell you something, and I will only say it once; so you should better listen. Whether you like it or not, you’re going to follow my orders if you want to keep living for a little while longer. I do not respect any kind of rebellion and suggest to listen to my words while you still have the chance. My nerves are thin and I do not hesitate to change my plans with you if you keep this up. My staff is apprenticed to deal with oppositionists like you and they are always pleased to take care of this business. Did I make myself clear?”

Piers wasn’t impressed by Wesker’s speech and just kept the stare, thinking how pathetic Wesker was for believing he could manipulate everyone that came across him just by lecturing them his doubtful policies. 

“Fuck you.”

Wesker cocked an eyebrow as the words reached his ears, processing the response for a short second before his brain came up with the conclusion to punch Piers in the guts for punishment, similarly to the one in the forest a few hours ago. His hand didn’t hurt a single bit because of the thick leather that covered his knuckles, and so the strike was executed with a remarkable amount of power that knocked the air out of Piers’ lungs for a second while he tried to regain his composure. 

“What was it you just said?” Wesker asked calmly, a hint of dangerous acid laced in his harsh voice.

Piers blinked several times and looked up slowly, still bent over and clutching his bruised abdomen while he searched for Wesker’s covered eyes with a look of hatred. “Fuck you…” he managed to spit out, knowing he will receive another punch for his lack of respect, but accepting the consequence in order to retain his pride. 

This time Wesker’s fist collided with his cheekbone, sending him sideways onto the floor. Piers narrowed his eyes to keep a hold of the tears that threatened to erupt as he needed to spit out a little blood from the hard beating, chest rising with increased speed and heaviness while he tried to get his senses to function again. 

Wesker knelt down, the black leatherwear rustling as he did so, and eyed the vampire without a trace of pity. He didn’t feel sorry for beating an already beaten man; in fact, he felt rather powerful and enjoyed the mighty position he was in. 

“Thank you for your kind demonstration as better not to treat me prospectively. Now, I want you to say ‘I am sorry, Master’ and get up.”

Piers clenched his teeth and growled in defeat, knowing very well that Wesker had the upper hand, which is why it was useless to even try any counterattacks. 

“I’m sorry… Master.” he coughed, not without secretly making a face because of how he was supposed to address the hybrid.

Wesker smiled satisfied as he stood up, quickly brushing over his leather coat and interlacing the hands behind his back again while stepping forward to the steel door of the room. He turned around and watched Piers pulling himself together, mildly annoyed at how long it took the vampire to straighten up. 

“Hurry up. I do not like to wait.”

It took Piers every common sense not to roll his eyes and harrumph irritably; instead he nodded and made sure to keep up with Wesker’s expectations. He simply ignored the painful throbbing in his cheek, almost certain it will turn blue within a few minutes. He just hoped it will heal faster than usual, pertaining to the perks of being a vampire.

Before stepping out, Wesker attached handcuffs around Piers’ wrists to prevent the vampire from doing any reckless attempts of attack or escape. Although Piers was very weak at the moment, a vampire could never be trusted; they were much tougher than one would expect.

Wesker closed the heavy door after Piers was out and on the corridor, locking it up with a big key. Piers wondered if these prison cells were the only old and dirty rooms of the building; the corridor didn’t look much better than the cell he had been in, with a stone wall, cement floor and smudgy light bulbs on the ceiling. He could imagine the other rooms on the upper floor were much more modern with highly contemporary technical equipment and keycards to open slide doors. 

“Follow me.”

Wesker’s instructions were short and to the point as usual, contrary to the rapidity of the steps he took to climb the stairs, much to Piers’ frustration.

When they reached the top, Albert Wesker opened a door that lead them into another small corridor. This one didn’t look so shabby like the other one, the floor was covered with a grey carpet and the walls were coated in a neutral wallpaper with framed photos of persons Piers didn’t recognize. He didn’t want to ask though – Wesker probably wouldn’t answer him anyway.

“Where are we going?” Piers asked, still following Wesker’s every move. 

“You will find out soon.” was all he got as response. 

Piers knew he wasn’t getting any more information, so he stayed silent for the rest of their walk, save for the panting and occasional soft groaning whenever one of his wounds hurt due to his quick movements. He just hoped that whatever awaited him hadn’t anything to do with strength or condition; right now he would fail miserably with any of that. 

While they made their way to the end of the corridor, a man in a white coat with a notepad in hand came past them. Wesker stopped so suddenly that Piers almost bumped into him, but luckily he could prevent it in the last second. He really didn’t want to end up with more bruises or a broken nose. 

“Joseph!” Wesker called after the man, said one stopped in his tracks and turned around to face his superior.

“Yes, sir?”

“Are you free right now?”

The man, apparently named Joseph, took a look at his notepad and pointed behind himself with his pen. “Actually, I was going to get subject number 45883 out of his room to examine his blood cells a bit further.”

“That can wait. I want you to follow me instead.” 

Joseph hesitated for a moment, but after seeing Wesker’s impatient expression that didn’t allow any objection he only nodded with a quiet “Yes, sir” and followed.

At the end of the small corridor was another door, this time a modern one like Piers had expected. Wesker even opened it with a keycard, through which Joseph went first, then Piers and then Wesker. It wasn’t a slide door though, so Wesker had to close it manually.

They made it to a big hall, which Piers was able to recognize due to the sterile white floor he’d already seen when Jake had carried him earlier.  
Wesker led them to a spacious elevator and sent them up to the fourth floor. Nobody spoke a word, it was so silent that only their even breathing could be heard. Piers’ main reason was because he didn’t want to speak, and he supposed he wasn’t allowed to until Wesker said so. Joseph was probably just afraid of his superior himself.

Albert Wesker gently shoved Piers out of the elevator when they reached the fourth floor, Joseph right behind the blonde man. Piers still wondered where he was brought to, he didn’t feel all too good about this and really hoped Chris and the others would do something to get him out of here. He somehow got a bad feeling and could tell that something was going to happen soon.

“We are almost there.” Wesker said with his typical mischievous smirk on the lips, already anticipating what waited on the other side of the door in a few meters distance.

Piers swallowed nervously, drops of sweat ran down his temple as he bit his lips to the point where they started bleeding gently from the intensity. He tried to take a look at his surroundings and memorize as much as possible, but felt it hard to do so because he couldn’t really focus on anything. Wesker’s firm push had him stumbling over his own feet from time to time, reminding him to pull himself together and not break down now.

“Alright, we have reached our destination. Joseph!” Wesker turned around and nodded at his lab worker, “Open it.”

Joseph fumbled with his keys for a second before he managed to get the compatible one into the lock of the double door, successfully opening it and granting them access to a big room. Piers couldn’t register everything this room held at first, as it was quite expansive and contained many different tubes of strange liquids in bright colours. Some were filled with organic material, but he couldn’t make out what exactly it was. Most of them looked slimy or had partly oversized body parts, for example massive claws or long tongues. 

Wesker smiled proudly and released his hand from behind Piers’ back to take a step closer to one of the tubes on the side. He looked at the creature swimming in turquoise coloured liquid and spread his arms widely, laughing loudly.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” He stroked the glass with one gloved hand, “Marvellous, just marvellous.”

Piers’ stomach turned at the sight of the ugly creature and Wesker’s pride of it. “What is that anyway?” he asked, not without making a face.

The blonde man turned around and smirked at him, the dark lenses of his glasses flashing mysteriously as the bright fluorescent light reflected on them. “Oh my little vampire, you would never understand.”

“Light me up, then.” 

Piers wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know, but being left in the unknown in front of these giant sleeping monsters wasn’t much of a better choice.

Wesker grinned now, showing rows of pearl-white teeth, and strode over to a big red button that was positioned beside a massive steel door on the other side of the room. “Wouldn’t it be more fun if I showed you? Joseph!”

Joseph looked up, startled, and responded with a weak “Boss?”, waiting for his superior to give his orders.

“Get over here! I want to demonstrate my guest the power of research… I have worked on it for months, years! I think now is a perfect time to test its potential.” 

“Wait, what are you up to?” Piers took a few steps closer, fairly aware that his hands were still restricted and wouldn’t help him in any case right now.

Wesker didn’t wait until his colleague has made his way over to him, instead he pressed the big button and cowardly disappeared behind a single door beside him. 

“Wesker!” Piers shouted, observing the flashing red alarm lights on the ceiling and the slowly opening steel door while listening to an emergency call from the speakers.

_**Emergency! Emergency! Please evacuate immediately! Unknown source of danger detected! Emergency! Emergency! Please evacuate immediately! Unknown source of danger detected!** _

“Damn it…!” Piers went back to the double door, through which they had come, and tried to open it with his elbow, but of course it didn’t open. “How am I supposed to evacuate if the doors are locked?!”

Suddenly the speakers crackled and the sharp voice of Wesker could be heard, a smug grin apparent in it. “It was me who locked the doors, so you won’t be able to miss out on this superb show!”

Piers growled angrily as he looked around to find any cameras so he can yell the maniac in the face. “Wesker! What the hell did you do!”

A deep laugh reverberated through the speakers, “You will find out soon! Let’s see if you can survive this, otherwise you will be useless to me anyway. What a shame though, such a pretty face.”

Piers didn’t get time to respond because the massive steel door across from him was completely open now, revealing what had been hidden behind it. He swallowed hard, the first thing he noticed were the large claws of a mysterious creature that lured in the dark. 

“… Good luck.” Wesker crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat in the control room to watch the whole scenario from a safe distance behind monitors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda feel like I have to apologize for the slow development of the story, but I want to take my time with it and describe as much as I find appropriate. 
> 
> Also, as you may have noticed in the last paragraphs, I recently enjoyed playing Resident Evil HD Remaster another time after a few years; hence the parallel between Wesker and his creature in the tube (= Tyrant in the original! :D) But the rest will be independent from the game.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave any comments, I would gladly read your thoughts. :)
> 
> -sneakytulip


End file.
